Birds of a Feather
by violet-wolf-scribe
Summary: Standing in front of her for the first time in five years, and for some reason he feels like his palms should be sweating. She smiles at him and he knows he came to the right place, he's home. Will two birds of a feather finally flock together?
1. Chapter 1

Birds of a Feather

A light rain pattered against the great bay window of Wayne Manor. The side room, one of the many found in the fortress like estate of Bruce Wayne, could be found comfortably tucked away in the east wing, and the towering glass window presented a breathtaking view of Gotham Bay. The room was sparsely, though comfortably furnished, with only a small dinette table, three chairs, and a small bookshelf lined with old law books, encyclopedias, and a smattering of classical works. In such a large house small rooms like these might go unnoticed, but the butler and caretaker of Wayne Manor lead a daily crusade against all manner of dust and dirt, ensuring that even this small forgotten nook was in pristine condition.

At the window sill a crusader of a different sort flipped idly through a rather large, rather old law book, pausing every now and then to gaze out the window. Dick Grayson peered out at Gotham City, taking in the familiar landmarks of the city he grew up in. He'd discovered this nook many years ago, when he'd first arrived at Wayne Manor, and it was one of his favorites. The rain blurred the window, but his hawk like vision could still make out the details of old dilapidated roofs of Old Gotham. He knew each one of those roof tops well, as he'd spent countless nights jumping, climbing, and swinging from one to another, alongside his mentor, and adopted father, the two of them on constant vigil for criminal activity.

Batman, known as Bruce to Dick, patrolled Old Gotham relentlessly in their early years. In the oldest and most rundown parts of the city criminal activity surged, running rampant through every dark alleyway and poorly lit street. Gangs, murderers, and thieves created fear and hopelessness in the down and distraught of Old Gotham. Bruce Wayne had taken on the role of the Batman to seek out all criminals, and bring them to justice. In time, those who had once stricken fear into the hearts of the innocent, had found something of their own to fear.

Dick came to live with Bruce after his parents were killed. As trapeze artists in a traveling circus, John and Mary Grayson were well liked and charismatic individuals. They taught their son Richard world class gymnastics from the time he could crawl, but at eight years old, on the night of his first performance, Dick watched a mad man gun down his parents in cold blood.

He didn't remember much of the first few months in Wayne Manor. Bruce Wayne was a very rich businessman, who'd inherited not only a large fortune, but also a massive corporation when his own parents had been murdered. In those first months Dick was left to wander the halls and rooms of Wayne Manor, endlessly seeking out new places to entertain himself, and hide from the primp and proper butler, Alfred Pennyworth. In fact, Bruce Wayne spent both days and nights either in his office at Wayne Enterprises, or in his study at the house, the latter of which was the only room forbidden to Dick.

As any child would do, Dick made his way into the study at the first opportunity. Inside was a treasure trove of trophies and books, but most important to Dick was the file on the coffee table. Inside a manila envelope was detailed information on the man who'd killed his parents. That night, filled with anger and a lust for vengeance, Dick struck out into Gotham to find his parents' killer, and bring him to justice. When nine year old Richard Grayson finally cornered the man who'd killed his parents, it became immediately apparent that he'd made a mistake. Luckily for him, the Batman was tracking the murderer too, and showed up just in time to save Dick; unfortunately the man narrowly escaped. That was the night that Dick Grayson discovered the truth about Bruce Wayne and Batman, and the night he took his first steps on the journey to becoming Robin.

As Robin, Dick spent many years patrolling Gotham with Batman, learning not only how to fight criminals and thugs, but how to think like them, outsmart them, and eventually, inspire fear in them. Alongside the Worlds Greatest Detective, Robin brought many criminals to justice, but the man who murdered John and Mary Grayson was never among them.

Dick was fifteen when the man finally appeared again in Gotham. As Robin he was once again ready to take revenge on the person who'd killed his parents, and this time, he was prepared. When the time came however, Batman refused to let Robin accompany him, stating that Dick Graysons thirst for vengeance would cloud Robins mind, and jeopardize the mission. The man was eventually brought to justice, but on that night a rift was formed between mentor, and apprentice.

Soon after, Robin would go on to form the Teen Titans, while Batman joined the Justice League. Bruce would call on Dick occasionally when the need arose, but preferred the help of power houses like Superman and Green Lantern. The Teen Titans only grew in number, and feeling that the time was right, Robin stepped down as leader, and left to pursue a new endeavor.

Dick moved to the South of Gotham City to Blüdhaven, a cesspool of criminals, fleeing Gotham and the wrath of Batman for new hunting grounds. As the prey moves, so too does the predator. There, Dick Grayson left behind the mantle of Robin, and its association with the Batman, and the Teen Titans. There he became Nightwing, a new source of fear for criminals and low lives.

After five years of crime fighting in Blüdhaven, Dick had returned to Wayne Manor, to speak with his adopted father, and mentor. He'd arrived late the night before, and out of habit driven his motorcycle not down the winding road leading to Wayne Manor, but rather the hidden road leading to the Batcave. Sensors picked up his presence immediately, registering his identity and scanning his bike for foreign objects or substances, before depositing him into the central hub of the huge underground cave network. Alfred was already waiting, having been alerted to his arrival by the Batcomputer.

"Welcome home Master Dick, would you like me to hang up your jacket? And...I assume you'd like the usual spot for your...other outfit?"

Dick smiled and embraced Alfred in a hug before depositing his black backpack into the old butlers arms.

"Good evening Alfred, how are you holding up? I assume Bruce is making his rounds?" he asked.

"I'm doing quite well for my age, Master Dick. And yes, you assume correctly. He has Master Tim with him tonight as well. I don't suppose you want to join them? I can pinpoint their patrol for you."

Dick smiled and shook his head. "No thank you, the ride from the airport was all the patrolling through Gotham I plan to do tonight."

Alfred nodded, and carried the backpack through the crowded cave, filled with trophies of past villains. Dick followed behind, stopping momentarily to marvel at the giant copper penny suspended from the cave ceiling. He'd seen it a million times, nearly been flattened by it when he was twelve, but the sight of that gargantuan relic still amazed him. Turning back to Alfred, he watched the old man enter a code onto a computer console; the floor adjacent to the console slid back and seven glass display cases rose from the gap.

Three of them held only wooden dummies, but two others held costumes familiar to Dick. The first was his very own Robin costume, reminding him of how much he'd grown in seven years. The second held the Batgirl costume, once worn by Barbara Gordon. The final display case also contained a wooden dummy, but draped over it was a black cloth Dick had never seen before. On the center of the cloth was a red symbol vaguely resembling a bat.

"He's going for red this time? Well it's something new at least." Dick remarked, moving his fingers over the glass.

Alfred came to join him. "Hm. Indeed, I think it's garish but Master Bruce has big plans for this one. He's been fretting about the importance of bio-augmentation, and nano-fiber. You should have seen his prototype for rocket propelled boots! That strip of cloth is the only thing left of it."

Dick laughed and stepped back, Alfred had deposited his Nightwing costume in the display case beside his Robin costume, a clear reminder of who he had been, and who he'd become. Alfred moved away as well, and the case slid back into the hidden floor compartment, just before the stone floor moved back into place. The two men moved back through the gallery, past the giant super computer, and to the elevator in the back wall.

Alfred pushed the elevator button and they began their ascent to the house proper.

"Would you like something to eat Master Dick? I've just finished a delightful baked chicken and I'd love it if for once, someone actually ate my cooking before it got cold..."

That morning a light rain had crept over the city, blotting out the sunrise, but nevertheless Dick had arisen to see it from the East Wing nook. Shortly after the subdued dawn, Alfred brought a tray laden with eggs, bacon, pancakes, and coffee. Dick ate in solitude before poking through the old books on the bookshelf, and settling for a book of laws written in the 1800s. It was a little past nine, which meant Bruce would be in his office at Wayne Enterprises for another hour. Dick had considered meeting him there, given the context of his visit, but chose the house instead for a few reasons.

Firstly, it would be a more private setting, and he wanted Bruce to see him not as a businessman making a proposition, but as a son coming to his father. It also meant that the meeting would be set on his terms, in the location he chose. It also meant avoiding Timothy Drake. He liked Tim well enough, but the boy was still young and had an over-abundance of energy. It was that same energy, and top notch detective work that had led him to discovering Bruce Waynes secret in his own right, and becoming the new Robin when Dick passed on the mantle. Dicks gaze fell once more to the window, where through the rain he could just make out the giant W of Wayne Enterprises.

At half past ten Alfred returned to the nook. "Master Dick, Bruce will take you in his study now."

Dick grimaced. He'd hoped to meet with Bruce here in the east wing, where the bay window overlooked the city. He'd had a small speech prepared, but he'd have to change large parts of it if the location changed. Furthermore, Bruce was dictating the meeting, which meant Dick would have to fight for the leverage he needed to accomplish his goal.

"Sounds good Al, I'll be there in a minute."

Bruce Wayne was sitting at his large mahogany desk when Dick walked in. He'd been flipping through the morning paper, but put it down to greet his adopted son. Bruce stood, and Dick held out his hand to shake, but was instead pulled into a hug by his father.

"It's been too long Dick! How are you holding up? I was just reading about your exploits in Blüdhaven. Crime down by over 70% in the past four years, and on your own too. That's quite impressive. Sit down and chat with your old man, I'll have Tim bring us some coffee."

Dick was briefly reminded of the polarity between the amiable and energetic Bruce Wayne, and the dour and intimidating Batman.

Bruce sat back down in his high backed chair, and motioned for Dick to sit across from him. He reached for a small tablet on his right, and pressed the screen. Immediately Tim Drakes face popped up. The boy was snooping around the east wing nook that Dick had just vacated. The tray of food was long gone, but the book was still sitting on the table. Tim was feeling the spine for wrinkles, trying to find the exact pages Dick had been reading.

His eyes screwed up as he read a passage, and then exclaimed "Aha!"

Bruce cleared his throat and Tim jumped ten feet into the air, clearly startled.

He looked around nervously for a moment before locating the tiny camera in the top right corner of the room. "Oh hey Bruce. Did you know Dick's here? Also there used to be a law in Gotham against keeping ice cream in your back pocket?"

Bruce laughed for a moment before responding "Yes to both. My ancestor Solomon Wayne wrote that law after a particularly bad incident with a fudge bar, and Dick is in my study now. Could you please bring us some coffee?"

Tim couldn't see them directly, but nodded at the camera as if staring directly at Bruce, and then returned the book to the shelf and moved out of the room. The monitor switched to a multi-camera view and Bruce returned it to the desk.

"So what brings you all the way to Gotham, Dick?" Bruce asked innocently, though Dick knew he'd known the moment Dick boarded the plane to Gotham. After all Bruce had been to his graduation ceremony only four months prior. Dick leaned forward slightly, ran a hand through his black hair, and feigned a pause before answering. Bruce would be prepared for a speech, would fake all of the motions, appear enthralled, and then contemplative, but he had his answer prepared. Dick chose not to play out the charade, and instead cut to the point.

"I want to start a corporation in Blüdhaven. I'm looking for your financial backing and approval before I move forward, but I'm not looking to subsidize. Wayne Enterprises is a power house, but it isn't the company Blüdhaven needs. Too many people there associate the name with big business, and I want to avoid an Anarky scenario." Before Bruce could interject he powered through.

"I know Wayne Enterprises is, and has always made huge strides for Gotham, but the people of Blüdhaven don't see that. They don't see the restoration of Old Gotham, the charity work, or any of that stuff. They see Wayne tower, and New Gotham. They would never accept a Wayne Enterprises, Blüdhaven edition."

Bruce appeared to be in thought, though Dick knew him well enough to know better.

"People know who Richard Grayson is, you know. They'll know your name, your face, and where your money is coming from. A different name on the sign wont stop people from tracing the money back. If you subsidize then you'll have the Wayne name to back you in earnest. Despite what you think, that name carries weight from Gotham to Metropolis. If the people don't like me, or you for that matter, then that's fine, but we don't do what we do for high poll numbers."

Dick nodded, and continued fervently. "I know that, believe me I've thought about it. Which is why I don't plan to head the project or the business. My plan is to finance it, push out those first few big decisions, and then elect a board of officials to run the company for the people."

Bruce shook his head and chided. "Dick, how many times have we had to put away corrupt directors and board members, both in uniform and out? People are greedy, if they have money and power they'll inevitably abuse it. I'm in support of you running a Wayne Enterprises subsidiary, but I won't have it passed off to some 'officials' and I don't approve of squandering money to line these peoples pockets. If you want to help the people, open a subsidiary with my full approval, and keep up your nightly patrols."

Now it was Dicks turn to disagree. "I've done all I can for the people as Nightwing. Putting criminals in jail does not create jobs, it doesn't put up apartments, or open shelters. If I'm going to make Blüdhaven a better place then I need to do exactly what Wayne Enterprises has done here in Gotham, and Jump City. But I need to do it on my own, and I need to show the people that they aren't being lorded over by the super rich. I'm not asking you to give me money Bruce. I'm asking you for a small loan, which I'll pay back with interest, and your blessing so that I know Wayne Enterprises won't sink this thing in two years!"

Dick was on his feet now, with both hands planted firmly on the desk. He was breathing heavily, but working to get his emotions under control. Bruce on the other hand seemed calm as ever, a characteristic that Dick hated about him.

Bruce looked down at the tablet again before responding. "I'm sorry Dick but if you refuse to subsidize then I just cant do it. Your problem now is the same it's always been, you're always trying to do things on your own. You need to open up, let other people help you. You need to know what it's like to have not just a team, but a family supporting you."

His owl-like hearing, honed to perfection over the years, picked up footsteps in the hallway. At first it appeared to be a single set, but he could faintly hear the very soft foot falls of another, whom he knew immediately to be Tim. He turned in time to see the door flung open. Tim stood in the doorway with a tray of coffee and biscuits. Just beside him stood the more easily heard pair of feet, attached to a very unwelcome visitor.

"If you're looking for support Dick, why not join the Justice League?" Superman's sonorous voice echoed into the study. He ducked through the doorway, nearly touching both sides with his massive shoulders. He was wearing a suit and tie, but even with his glasses on Dick recognized the hulking man.

"Hey Dick, Hey Bruce. I brought coffee. Alfred made biscuits. Also Superman is here. Oh sorry, I mean Clark Kent." Tim gave an exaggerated wink before setting the tray down on the desk. He lingered at the edge of the desk, clearly intending to stay.

"Thank you Tim, I saw Alfred greet Clark at the door, I invited him here to speak with Richard." He took a sip of the coffee without breaking eye contact with Timothy, who took the message and backed away. Dick noticed he didn't leave the room however, instead choosing to gaze a little too intently at a bust of Solomon Wayne on far side of the room.

When he turned back to Dick the heart warming, fatherly smile was gone, replaced with a straight face and a slightly furrowed brow. Bruce Wayne had left the room, this was Batman.

"We've taken notice of the work Nightwing has done in Blüdhaven over the last few years. He's really making a difference there, and crime has reached a point that is manageable by local law enforcement. Superman and I held a conference, and we'd like you to consider joining the League. This is a big opportunity for you Dick, you can further your career both in the corporate world, and as a Hero. You want to open this business, join the League, and you'll have Bruce Wayne's backing, as well as Queen Consolidated, Amertek, and hundreds of other businesses around the globe."

Dick let out an exasperated sigh and started to pace the length of the desk. Superman had come to stand behind Bruce. His arms were folded but his face bore a big goofy grin. In a flash of anger Dick considered punching him, but didn't want to break his hand.

"So that's why you agreed to this meeting, huh Bruce. So you could try and recruit me into Superman's Army. Well no thanks. I spent seven years as a side kick to you, I'm not about to become a flunky for him!"

The smile on Superman's face vanished and he held his hands out plaintively. "Come on now Richard, no one is my flunky, we're all equal in the Justice League, I'm no higher in rank than Elastic Man. The League is only a group of super beings who wish to protect the world from those who would do it harm, not some kind of super hero government."

Dick's eyes, full of fury, narrowed onto Superman. "Protect the world? From asteroids and aliens maybe, but when is the last time you stopped a mugger from snatching an old woman's purse, or broke apart a gang war, or saved some college girl from a rape? I've seen what kind of work the Justice League does. You think you're protecting the world for the betterment of the people, but you sit in your watch tower in outer space and you don't give a damn about what the common people are going through!"

Bruce stood abruptly "Dick! I won't have you insulting guests in this house! Apologize." His eyes narrowed, and Dick could visualize the cowl draped over them. "Now."

Clark sighed. "It's fine Bruce. Richard just doesn't understand the magnitude at which the League operates. He's not used to working with a large team. I mean look what's happened with the Teen Titans..."

Dick's head snapped to Bruce, then back to Superman, his hands instinctively moving to his belt, only to grasp air. "What do you mean, 'what happened to the Teen Titans.'?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Bruce was about to respond when Superman cut him off. "They fell apart after you left Dick. You left when they needed leadership the most. Most of them joined the League or went back to solo work."

He paused and Bruce took the opportunity. "The tower keeps tabs on all meta-humans, and vigilantes. The Titans started dropping off rapidly after you left. Roy Harper went back to solo work, abandoning the position of team leader, and many of them joined the Justice League as Clark said."

Almost like clock work, Superman picked up. "Join the League Dick, and you'll get the opportunity to fight alongside your old allies, advance your career as a hero, and open this business you want so desperately."

Bruce sat back down, and grabbed the tablet again. "I want you to consider this seriously Dick. You're an adult now, and you need to look at making responsible decisions for the future. Because of that, I'm cutting off your funding until the end of next month. You can stay at Wayne Manor and consider your options more thoroughly until then. This is your home, and you're always welcome here."

It had been a trap. From the very beginning. At the time it had seemed like Dick's idea to come here, to proposition Bruce. But thinking back on it, it had been Bruce who mentioned coming home after his graduation ceremony at Blüdhaven U. It had been Bruce who'd sown the seeds of opening a business to help Blüdhaven. It had even been Bruce who'd planted the idea of going there to fight crime, five years ago. It was all a test. One big game to see if Nightwing was Justice League material.

Dick roared with rage, marched over to Tim who was still busily inspecting the bust, and pushed him out of the way. The boy tumbled backwards with a "Hey!" and in a snap Bruce was on his feet moving towards Dick. Before he could reach him though, Dick pushed hard on the statue's head, releasing a mechanism that caused the nearby bookshelf to slide open, revealing one of the many entrances to the Batcave. Dick turned to Superman, who hadn't moved.

" You're wasting your frosty breath. I will NOT be one of your boy scouts." Then he turned to Bruce who'd stopped just feet away, to check on Tim.

"And I don't need your help. In fact, without me you'd be dead already. This may be where I grew up, but it is not my home, and I sure as hell won't let it become my prison."

He turned and took the dark stone passage into the heart of the cave. Behind him he heard Tim make to go after him, but Bruce stopped him. "Let him go. He just needs to cool his head. He'll come back up when he's come to his senses." But Dick didn't plan on coming back to the house. He took the steps two at a time until he arrived at the central hub of the Batcave, where he'd arrived the night before.

At the computer terminal he angrily punched in the code for the Display, damaging the screen and nearly the entire terminal. The display cases began their ascent but before they were halfway up he'd thrown the one he was looking for open, and grabbed his Nightwing costume. Years of practice and familiarity meant the suit was equipped before he even reached the docking bay, and another computer terminal brought up the loading platform containing the Batmobile and his motorcycle, the R one. He jammed the helmet onto his head, started the bike, and was tearing down the winding cave path before he'd even fully mounted.

Right now Dick Grayson wanted only two things. First, he wanted to put as much distance between him and Wayne Manor as possible, and second, he wanted to go home. The cave tunnel opened out into a series of smaller tunnels, and Nightwing turned his bike East, for Jump City, and Titans Tower.


	2. Chapter 2

Birds of a Feather 2

Authors Note: Hey everyone thanks a ton for the overwhelming support so quickly, especially to morningwolf, ar1992, and lovetoread02, and Anna977 for following after only the first chapter. Just a quick reminder, I don't own or claim ownership of Robin, Raven, Teen Titans, Batman, or any Warner Brother's properties or trademarks. This is being written purely for entertainment purposes and not for profit, and should only be found on as written by NakedBearLady. Without further adieu, lets get back to our story.

* * *

Nightwing raced down the rough stone tunnels at a cool two hundred miles per hour. The cave network linked most of Blüdhaven, Gotham, and Jump City, which were collectively known as the Three Sisters. While Jump City was the smallest of the three, it was also the furthest east, bordering the edge of Gotham Bay on it's western shore, and the Atlantic Ocean on the eastern side. The tunnels were extensive, and natural, which meant the drive to Jump City was not direct, and took a little longer than driving the streets. The time lost in the roundabout path was made up for in that Dick wouldn't have to drive through traffic, or deal with police.

An hour passed before Bruce made his first call, the small computer screen built into the dash of the R1 displaying his number and face, while the speaker in Dicks helmet let out a noisy ring.

"Don't you know you shouldn't expect people to answer their phone while driving, they could get into an accident." he muttered to himself, before hitting the ignore button on the display, followed by the silence button. After a few more calls Bruce seemed to get the hint and stopped calling; Dick yanked the throttle and pulled the bike up to a cool two hundred, the top speed for his custom built motorcycle.

Another half hour went by and Dick knew he would be getting close to his exit when loud static suddenly filled his helmet. The static was followed by a female voice muttering nonsensical numbers. Barbara Gordon appeared on the computer screen, and her voice started to come in more clearly.

"Dick? Dick it's me, Barbara. Look Bruce just called and told me what happened between you two, I'm at the cave now...I sorta...hacked into the R1. Anyway, look why don't you come back and we can all talk it out. I'll get Bruce to listen and..."

Nightwing cut her off. "I do NOT want to do this right now Barb. Get out of my bike." he jammed the end call button, but nothing happened.

"Yeah, that's not going to work. I won't make you listen to me, but you should listen to Bruce, he just wants what's best for you."

Ignoring her, Nightwing ripped the helmet off and tossed it into tunnel where it clattered off of the road and down into the cave below. "Computer, re-route all auxiliary power to the engines."

The monitor hummed with response before shutting off. Nightwing was blinded briefly when the Detective Vision shut off in his mask, disabling his night vision, and showing just how black his surroundings were. He flipped the headlight on, and despite the loss of vision, yoked the throttle, bringing the bike to a newly augmented speed of two hundred and eighty miles per hour.

Dick let out a sigh of relief when the headlight of his motorcycle illuminated his destination. A split in the path lead to a short incline leading to a ramp. Dick accelerated towards it, pulling up at the last second as the bike left the ground. For a moment it seemed Nightwing would tumble into darkness; instead he was greeted with a frigid blast of cold water as the bike moved through a waterfall, and landed with a thump on solid ground below.

The cave hub was much smaller than the one encompassing the Batcave, but it was naturally illuminated by the small cave mouth on the far wall. Dick finally brought his speed down to forty miles per hour as he exited the cave, which brought him to a ridge overlooking Jump City. He easily located the dirt path he'd created himself nearly eight years ago, a little overgrown from disuse, and turned the bike towards it. After another half hour of driving through Jump City he reached the long, sea-level bridge that lead to Titan's Tower.

The tower itself was hosted on an island in the Atlantic, only a few miles off of the coast. Originally the Titan's had used the same cave network that brought Dick here, to travel into the city. Their battle with the demon lord Trigon had collapsed that tunnel section, (as well as most of the tower, when Trigon sought to make his throne there) After reconstruction of the tower, the team decided on the road, instead of restoration of the tunnels.

Normally sensors would have picked up his arrival, scanned his vehicle, and then opened the front gate at the end of the bridge, but when Nightwing reached the gates he found them flung wide open. Fearing the worst, he pulled his motorcycle to a stop, and reactivated the computer console. Luckily Barbara had gotten the message, and the screen displayed it's regular User Interface.

Scanning it's surroundings, the R1 found that the security systems had been voluntarily deactivated, though the ground in front of the gate was giving off an electrical hum. Using his Detective Vision, Nightwing could make out secret panels in the ground flanking both sides of the gate, but his enhanced vision could not penetrate the steel doors to reveal their contents. Luckily, whatever they were did not show themselves and Nightwing was able to continue through the gate.

For the first time in five years Dick Grayson gazed up at Titan's Tower, a five story tower in the shape of a T. When he'd gone to Bruce with the design specifications the multi-billionaire was excited to endorse the project. At the time he'd given Dick a grand speech about how -like the Hall of Justice- the Titans Tower would stand as a beacon to the people; that their heroes were never out of reach, on constant vigil in the name of the people. As an adult the idea of drawing any similarity to the Justice League sickened Dick, and he found himself wishing he'd picked a less ostentatious design.

Still, Titan's Tower was more of a home to Dick in the eight years he'd spent there than all the time he'd spent in Wayne Manor, or his apartment in Blüdhaven. He parked the R1 in a small garage adjacent to the first floor. The T-Car, built and obsessed over by Cyborg before he was even old enough to drive, was parked on the other side of the garage, completely covered in a black tarp. Moving past it, Nightwing entered the garage elevator, which brought him into the tower proper.

The elevator brought him up the tower, playing some awful music the entire time. Finally it stopped on the top floor, where the living room overlooked the city, and the door slid open. floating in the door frame, looking just as surprised as Dick felt, was Raven. She stared widely at Nightwing for a second before embracing him in a hug and pulling him out of the elevator. Stunned, Nightwing slowly wrapped his arms around her, before letting go and stepping back.

Standing in front of her for the first time in five years, he felt as if his palms should be sweating. She smiled at him, and he knew he'd come home. He smiled back, ear to ear, before letting out a clumsy "Hey."

She laughed, and then turned her head down the hallway. "Hey guys, Robin's back!"

He stepped back an inch, taking in the fullness of her image. She wore her standard costume, a black leotard with matching gloves and boots; a gold belt cinched her waist and her ever present navy blue cloak draped her shoulders, though the hood was down, allowing her short black hair to frame her elfin face.

He was enraptured by the beauty of her soft, porcelain skin -something he'd never noticed as a teen- as well as the gentle curves of her delicate figure. His gaze caught her violet eyes, and he stumbled. The usually suave and cool Dick Grayson found himself at a loss for words. Luckily, Raven found some for him.

"I guess it's Nightwing, now huh? Did you finally decide that red and green were a little too vibrant for back alley crime fighting?" she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, before floating softly to the ground.

Finally Dick found something to say. "And what about you? Did the white stain too easily or are you just as dark and brooding as ever?"

She laughed in earnest before responding. "Cyborg was complaining about all of the bleach tearing up the washing machine."

Just then, Nightwing heard a booming voice coming from the end of the hallway. "You'd complain too if you spent six hours trying to put that thing back together with bleach in your nose!" Cyborg rounded the corner and held out one of his massive hands to shake, nearly crushing Dick's in the process. Before he could let go, Cyborg pulled him into a mammoth spine-breaking hug.

"Where you been buddy! We missed you at the Tower, it just hasn't been the same without you here. I mean the place has actually been clean since you've been gone."

"Yeah no thanks to Beast Boy..." Raven grumbled.

As if on cue, Beast Boy shuffled in from the other side of the hallway, dressed in pajama pants, and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Oh look." he said after a yawn. "It's the boy wonder. What brings you back to our humble little tower after five years?" Before he could respond, Beast Boy shuffled past, moving into the living room. He jumped over the back of the couch, landing on the cushion before his hand came to rest on the tv remote.

Nightwing stepped in front of him, blocking his view of the television. Raven and Cyborg followed, the latter sitting on the couch next to Beast Boy.

"Actually, I came to check in on the Teen Titans, and see how things were going." Beast Boy crossed his arms, and blew a strand of green hair from his eyes.

"Well, you've checked, we're doing fine. You can leave now, see you in five years."

Dick grimaced and stared down at Beast Boy.

"It's not that kind of check up. I want a status report. Why didn't the sensors pick up my arrival? Where are the other members of Team A, and why aren't you in uniform?"he gestured towards Beast Boys' bare, green skinned chest, and pajama pants.

Beast Boy leaped up, and again Dick found his hand on his belt, though this time there was something to grasp at.

Luckily Cyborg interjected. "We disabled the sensors because the seagulls kept tripping them. Instead I installed some auto-cannons. Non-lethal of course. See, what they do, is when you walk up and the Tower doesn't recognize you, they spit play-doh all over you, and hold you in place until one of us responds. It's pretty cool really, except that one time we got the mail man." he scratched the cybernetic side of his head; a nervous tick that Dick recognized, since Cyborg didn't have nerve endings there.

Raven picked up from there "Bumble Bee went to join Team B since they dropped to only two members...Aqua-lad joined the Justice league. And Gizmo started stealing stuff again, so he was suspended. He's serving jail time right now until Beast Boy decides if he should be reappointed.

Beast Boy? Dick chewed that over. He'd appointed Speedy as the Leader of the Teen Titans before he'd left, and moved Bumble Bee and Gizmo to his team to cover the loss of Starfire, and his departure from the group. Bruce had mentioned that Roy Harper -Speedy's secret identity- had left to start working solo again, but Nightwing couldn't foresee him leaving Beast Boy in charge. Luckily, Cyborg had an answer for that.

"After Speedy left, he put Aqua-lad in charge, and after he left, he put Kid Flash in charge, and then he left and put Wonder Girl in charge. Well she joined the Justice League and made Super Girl the leader, who left to work with her cousin, and made Bee the leader..."

Beast Boy interjected "Anyway, It's just Titans now, since none of us are teenagers anymore, and I'm the leader so if you want back in, you'll have to pass MY test!"

An hour later, Nightwing was sitting at the kitchen bar, preparing to face the most difficult challenge he'd ever overcome. Beast Boy, now in his normal purple and black costume, stood opposite the counter, and held a silver table spoon in front of him as if it were cradling a bomb. Cyborg had transformed one hand into a camcorder, and the other into a radio, which played loud rhythmic Drum beats. (Raven was preoccupied, trying to pull a huge jar of pickles out of Silky the Silk Worms mouth) Slowly, and very carefully, Beast Boy poured a strange brownish powder onto the spoon.

"...The Cinnamon challenge?" Dick asked, taken aback.

Beast Boy smiled and handed him the tablespoon of cinnamon. "Pass this test, and you can be a Titan again."

Dick stammered. "Yeah...but...the CINNAMON challenge?"

From the other side of the kitchen Raven had finally finished wrestling with Silky and came to join the boys. "It was going to be the Milk Jug challenge, but I'm lactose intolerant."

Without a pause Nightwing grabbed hold of the spoon and forced the brown powder through his mouth and into his throat. It was surprisingly difficult and his throat nearly seized up, but he managed to force it down before grabbing a nearby jug of water and gulping it. After a moment of labored breathing he turned back to Beast Boy, who had an ear splitting grin on his face.

"Congratulations on joining the Titans, Nightwing." was all Beast Boy managed to say before bursting into a fit of laughter. Cyborg screamed "I got it on camera!" and even Raven giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. (Silky ate the bottle of cinnamon)

"I've just got one question." Nightwing said, setting the water jug back onto the counter. "How did Beast Boy become leader after Bee left?"

Cyborg's hands returned to being just that, before he responded. "Well we had a vote, since there was only three of us. I voted for me."

"I voted for me" Raven answered sourly.

"And I voted for the best leader our team has ever had. Me." Beast Boy answered.

That still left a three way tie, but Raven seemed to read his mind, and had an answer.

"Silky also voted for Beast Boy."

"It wasn't fair!" Cyborg wailed. "If I'd been holding a box of double stuffed crust spinach and tomato pizza I would have won!"

Beast Boy laughed (Silky burped) and Raven groaned. "If that concludes the coronation, I'll be in the library." And with that she floated off of her bar stool and out of the kitchen. Beast Boy hopped up and started poking around in the fridge.

"I'm going to make some tofu burgers. Want one Cy?" Cyborg rubbed his hands together. "I'll get the stove started!"

Seeing the opportunity, Nightwing ducked out of the kitchen, going unnoticed by the other two boys. Raven was already on the other side of the hallway, passing the living room, on her way to the library. Exhausted from his meeting with Bruce, and the long drive to Jump City, he decided to make his way down the same hallway, but instead of following Raven to the library, he took the opposite path to his old bedroom.

His old bedroom had gone untouched in the last five years, except it seemed, from the pilfering Gizmo. Everything was the way Dick had left it on his departure, except for the missing prototype plans for a sonic birdarang he'd been working on -a prototype he'd long since finished and perfected. - and a laptop computer that once had been connected to the Batcomputer database, which he'd purged before leaving. Still on his desk, covered in dust however, was a small photograph of him and Starfire at a county fair, taken almost seven years ago.

As Robin, Dick Grayson had been head over heals for the Tamaranean warrior princess. Shortly before he himself left, Starfire had returned to her home planet to marry a wealthy Prince named Karras. The heartbreak and betrayal at her departure, was one of many catalysts that lead to his own resignation from the team. Five years ago, he'd told himself that the team was strong enough to hold together without him as their leader. Now, it was apparent that he'd been wrong. Not only had the team fallen apart completely, but Beast Boy, arguably the most inexperienced and immature member of the team, was leading them.

Dick realized that his journey here hadn't simply been to escape his adopted father. He'd come to Titans Tower and Jump City because he felt responsible for the sorry state of the Teen Titans. Moving over to the bed, and giving the sheets a good shake, he laid down and allowed his eyes to wander to the rest of the room. He resolved to stay, and rebuild the team, at least to a point that it was once again as effective as it had been five years ago. Just before he fell into the bliss of sleep, his gaze found one more picture hanging on the wall. A picture of himself meditating on the rooftop with Raven.


	3. Chapter 3

Birds of a Feather 3

Author's note: Special shout out to dazy belle, for following this story. This was a very action packed chapter inspired heavily by the Arkham games, I hope you all enjoy, lets get to it! Disclaimer: All character belong to DC and Warner Bros.

Dick was flying high above Jump City. Beneath him an enormous flock of black birds flew like a dark cloud. They blocked his view of the city immediately below, but ahead he could see the distant bay, and beyond that the hazy outline of Gotham. He accelerated at breakneck pace until he was hovering above Wayne Manor. The house itself looked dilapidated and abandoned,the many marble statues littering the yard and gardens were cracked, chipped, or altogether toppled, Shingles were missing from the rooftop, and windows were covered with planks of wood.

Horrified, Dick tried to move closer, and land on the west wing balcony, but the flock of birds from before had caught up, and lifted him higher into the sky. He was launched straight up, until he passed through the stratosphere. The birds flew in front of him, creating a barrier as his body broke through the atmosphere. On the edge of the atmosphere his body came to a halt and began to float in outer space. His gaze was focused below, trying to make out the ramshackle Wayne Manor, but instead found Titan's Tower. The black birds moved to circle around him, like vultures scavenging a cadaver.

He gazed above, past the circling crows, to see the gargantuan Tower of Justice looming above him. The satellite was mammoth in structure, something so immense that it would never stand upright on Earth. Next to it, Dick was less than an ant. Suddenly, the colossal space station started to drop out of orbit, falling rapidly towards the earth. The nose of the massive structure angled down so that it was pointing directly at Titan's Tower, threatening to crush not only the tower, but the entire island it was housed on. A fall like that would undoubtedly create a shock wave capable of decimating the city.

Dick forced himself downward towards the nose of the space station. He didn't know what he would accomplish, but he did his best to grab hold of the nearest chunk of satellite, and lift with all his might. His muscles screamed with fatigue; a scream that manifested itself physically by tearing through his throat. With one final shove -by some impossibility- he managed to throw the tower back into orbit. His body gave out from the strain, and he found himself falling back to Earth at sonic speed.

He hit the ground on the doorstep of Titan's Tower. The fall should have crushed his bones, but -though he was immobilized- he didn't feel any pain. Looking up he saw the black birds return, but keep their distance a mile or so above. One of their great number broke off from the rest and came down to hover just above Dick. Suddenly the bird transformed into a beautiful woman. The sunlight blinded Dick, and the woman wore a deep cowl that hid her face, except for two glowing white eyes. Slowly, she lifted her hands to the cowl, and started to slide it down. Her eyes flashed even brighter, blinding Dick, but he heard her voice loud and clear.

"ALERT!"

Dick awoke with a start, thankful that he hadn't changed before falling asleep. He grabbed his mask from the desk where he'd deposited it. A wall panel adjacent to the door slid open, displaying ALERT in bright red on a screen. Beneath the screen was a small button, which Nightwing jumped for. Before he could hit it though, Beast Boy's face appeared on the screen.

"Titans, it's game time!" He shouted. Dick fought the urge to hit the intercom button, and instead grabbed the door handle.

In the living room, the coffee table had converted itself into a holographic map of Jump City. The map was showing three buildings surrounded by red squares. Nightwing recognized the buildings on the display; each was one of Jump City's largest, and oldest banks. To the north, Jump City First National Bank. On the east, Jump City Financial Credit Union, and to the west, overlooking the river, Bayside Mutual Funds. Each bank was surrounded by several red dots, which moved about frantically. His gaze moved to where he knew the police department would be, south of Bayside Mutual. Sure enough, gold circles were starting to swarm from the building and move out through the city.

"These are organized bank robberies" Nightwing pointed to the gold circles moving through the streets. "Hitting all three banks at the same time means the police would have to scatter, but they'll focus on Bayside Mutual first." He slid his finger up to the north target. "There's a larger concentration of targets here, which is where we're heading."

Beast Boy interjected. "Whoa now, slow down cowboy. I'm the leader, so I'll make the call. I think we should split up, the police will reach Bayside Mutual first, but we should still send someone there to back them up, since we don't know what's going on inside. There might be a hostage situation at any one of these banks. I'll head there, because I can get inside without being seen."

He pointed to Jump City Financial. "Cy, you're going here, since it's the closest to the tower, and the car is busted." Cyborg scratched at his head again, and gave a shrug. Beast Boy didn't bother pointing at the last target. "Night, Rae, you'll grab First National, since there's a larger concentration of enemies there. Cyborg fixed your bike, he'll tell you about it on the way to the garage. Now Titans...Move Out!"

Beast Boy transformed into a red-tailed hawk, and took off down the hallway. Cyborg shrugged again, gave Nightwing a wide grin, and then started for the elevator. Nightwing and Raven followed. In the elevator, Cyborg created a holographic computer screen with his right arm.

"So, I went to refuel the R1, and ran a diagnostics test. You got hacked pretty bad, but I found the source."

Dick wasn't surprised, when Cyborg had joined the Teen Titans eight years ago, his first triumph had been to find and destroy an override program that had allowed Batman to disable the R1 remotely, through either the Batcave, or the Batmobile. It had been that same program that stopped Robin from pursuing the man who'd slain his parents.

" Some program called Oracle had implanted itself in the bikes operating system, really similar to the Batman program I helped you with that one time. Anyway it couldn't override the bike, but the communications were really wonky. Someone wanted to talk to you, and they were willing to shut down your entire computer system to do it."

Nightwing nodded. "Yeah, I'm aware...Speaking of which, I need a communicator." Cyborg shook his head, and closed down his hologram.

"Sorry bud, we gave it to Speedy, and he never gave it back. I have a few in the lab, but we're kinda pressed for time if we want to stop three heists at once."

Raven spoke up for the first time. "You'll just have to stick close to me. Guess that's why Beast Boy stuck us together, instead of hounding me the entire mission."

Dick was reminded that Beast Boy had feelings for Raven, a thought which for some reason, left a strange feeling in his stomach. He'd been chasing her around for years, but as far as Dick knew, it had been in vain.

The elevator came to a stop, and the door popped open. Cyborg gave a short wave, and broke into a sprint. His speed was augmented by his cybernetic legs, and he ran easily twice as fast as even the most athletic human beings. Nightwing followed Raven into the garage. She moved over to a work bench and grabbed an old red motorcycle helmet, bearing the Robin symbol on the back.

"Mind if I borrow this? I've seen how you drive that thing." Without waiting for an answer, she lowered her hood, and set the helmet onto her head. The visor was up, and she gave him a teasing wink before hopping onto the back of the R1.

"Uh...knock yourself out..."

Seeing her lower the visor of his old helmet left another strange feeling in his gut, and the thought occurred that he hadn't eaten since breakfast, though he wasn't sure it was hunger. Filing it away for later, he hopped onto the bike himself, starting it with the push of a button. Keeping in mind the new passenger, he eased the throttle to thirty miles per hour as he pulled out of the garage. Raven quickly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. That feeling returned with a vengeance, and he vowed to eat as soon as the mission was over.

They raced through the city at one hundred and sixty miles per hour, turning shops and building fronts into nothing more than blurs of light. Nightwing tapped Raven's arm on his abdomen to get her attention, but she didn't take her hands off, so he tried to shout loud enough for her to hear.

"When I give that signal, let go and jump as high as you can!" They neared stone steps of the bank, and Nightwing gave the signal. Raven let go, and leaped from the bike, but instead of falling, continued to levitate in the air. She pulled the helmet off, and replaced it with her hood before opening a black hole and disappearing into it.

As soon as she was clear, Nightwing jumped from the bike, engaging the autopilot as he did so. He leaped high into the air, spreading his arms wide and somersaulting forward. The first burglar was coming down the stone steps of First National, and Nightwing ended his jump by planting his feet on the masked mans chest. The criminal flew back, hitting the steps, but Nightwing had vaulted off of his chest, back flipping and landing on one knee a few feet away from the impact point. Just then, four more masked men exited the bank, armed with machine guns.

Nightwing reached into his utility belt and tossed a flash-bang grenade, blinding the men before they could open fire. The blinding flash of light left them momentarily stunned, but the first criminal was closer to Nightwing, and struggling to his feet. He took one look at his surprise attacker, and drew a long serrated knife from his belt. He charged at Nightwing, but before he could swing a red motorcycle helmet fell out of a black hole and smashed him in the head. The helmet bounced off of the once again dazed criminal, and Nightwing deftly caught it, setting it aside.

From another black hole in the ground, Raven slowly rose, wearing her cloak and covered in glowing red tattoos. Red and black tendrils of energy were visibly swirling off of her body, and the four armed men turned tail and ran back towards the bank. Years of preternatural instinct told Nightwing to spin to his left, as a razor sharp cane flew past him and embedded itself in the far building. His assailant had thrown the missile from the shadow of the doorway, where he had been waiting unseen. Nightwing took a split second to glance at the weapon, for an idea of who'd attacked him. It was a golden cane, shaped conspicuously like the hand of a clock, and sharpened to a deadly point.

"Raven it's the Clock King. You go round up the thugs, and I'll deal with him." Her tattoos faded and she darted towards the bank, floating through the other set of double doors, just as Nightwings attacker exited the building.

"Very good, you haven't forgotten your foes." the Clock King stepped from the shadow of the doorway, wearing his signature suit, tie, and glasses, all sporting a clock face insignia. He hadn't appeared to age a day, an effect -Nightwing surmised- of his experimentation with time-space manipulation.

"Yes, I'd recognize your skill at any time. So tell me Robin, what brings you back to Jump City after five long years?" He stepped forward, taking the stair slowly. Nightwing ducked into a fighting stance.

"Robin is gone. I'm Nightwing, and I'm here to stop thugs like you, William Tockman."

Clock King opened his arms wide. "My my. Time really does change a person's outlook. You sound very similar to your mentor, the Batman."

In his time talking, the Clock King had come closer and closer to Nightwing. The man lunged forward, throwing a right hook. Nightwing knew it was a feint, and caught the Clock King's left fist just before it smashed into his face. With little effort he snapped the man's wrist, and elbowed him in the chest. The Clock King screamed in pain, and fell to the ground

Before Clock King could recover, Nightwing planted his left boot on the man's chest, pinning him to the ground. His eyes narrowed, and his teeth gritted, as he dug his boot into Clock King's rib cage.

"Your hunting ground is usually in Gotham, why are you in Jump City?!" The Clock King gasped in pain, and tried to push Nightwings foot off of himself.

"Batman's run everyone out of the city, I needed money for my research!" He was lying.

"Not good enough!" Nightwing shouted, before pressing the heel of his leather boots onto the man's lungs.

Clock King cried out "Ahh! Alright! I'll tell you! Your arrival did not go unnoticed! Your motorcycle is recognizable by anyone who knows what to look for, and my employer has eyes all over the city!"

So Tockman hadn't been working alone. Nightwing grabbed the man by his collar, and dragged him up the stone steps before lifting him off of the ground and forcing him against one of the great stone support columns of the bank.

"Who are you working for! I want answers!" He searched Clock King's eyes through his glasses; they were full of fear.

"I...I don't know, they didn't contact me directly!"

"Lie to me one more time!" Nightwing punched the arch hard, leaving a jagged crack only inches from Clock King's face.

"I'm being honest I swear! I got an email two hours ago with detailed plans on this heist job! The idea of pulling off three perfect heists in sync at the exact same time! I was just supposed to draw you out, make sure you really were in the city, but the heist had been planned before that! That's all I know, I promise!" Clock King's voice broke, and his lip started to quiver.

Nightwing smashed his forearm into Clock King's head, knocking him unconscious, before letting his body slide to the ground. Someone had known Nightwing was out of Blüdhaven, and even worse, had seen him arrive in Jump City. Batman, Robin, and Nightwing had more than their fair share of enemies, but only one would have the resources and strength to track him so easily in only twenty four hours.

Slade Wilson.

"Wow. You really aren't the same Robin anymore..." His silent revelation was interrupted by Raven's shocked expression.

"I...I noticed a pattern, I needed answers from him."

She flew out of the shadow of the doorway, and floated down the steps, grabbing the discarded helmet as she went. "That was more of an inquisition than an interrogation." She stated finally. Nightwing moved to follow, but she was already mounting the back of the R1.

"The rest of the men are inside, locked in the vault they tried to escape into." She jammed the helmet onto her head, lowing the visor. "The police are on their way to pick them up. This mission is over." Though it had been a successful mission, Dick felt a little defeated as he mounted the bike, spun it around, and made for Titan's Tower.

Back in the living room, Beast Boy was holding a mission debriefing. "I was right about the hostage situation. The good news is I'm pretty awesome, and managed to sneak in as a rat and chew through the ropes of the hostages. There were only two guys in the bank, but the cops were in a stand-off with seven more out front, so I went Gorilla and took out the two in the bank, then charged out of there as an elephant and nearly trampled the rest." Grinning ear to ear, he leaned back in his chair with his hands on his head.

Cyborg was sitting next to Beast Boy, picking shrapnel out of a cracked panel in his arm with a pair of needle nose pliars. " Only three for me, but they were carrying some pretty big guns. Got this baby from a sniper who'd been posted up on the roof when I came running in. Luckily the ole' sonic cannon shut him down, and the other two didn't know what to do when a seven foot tall robo-man crashed through the door. I was like, Boo yah! and they just gave up."

Nightwing was considering telling them about Slade when Raven spoke. "There were twelve armed criminals at First National. When we arrived five of them were preparing their escape while six more of them were rigging the building with explosives. Our mastermind, Clock King was there. I chased them inside and dealt with the explosives, while Nightwing faced Clock King. When I came back out, NIghtwing had him pinned against the wall and was interrogating him...Harshly." She looked directly at Dick when she said it, her narrow eyes visible behind her hood.

Guilt shot through his heart like a bullet, but he finally managed a response. " The heist wasn't his idea, he'd been contracted by another, but wouldn't tell me who. Whoever it was, they know I'm back in Jump City. They were waiting for me."

He chose not to tell them his theories on Slade. Firstly, because he didn't have any real proof that Slade was the mastermind behind Clock King's heist. Secondly, because Slade was one of the greatest villains the Teen Titans had ever faced. A long time ago, they thought him defeated, however, thanks to the Batcomputer, Nightwing knew he'd escaped and left the city to recover. His last known location was on a small island off the coast of china, but if he was tracking Nightwing so easily, then it meant he was well recovered, somewhere nearby, and potentially seeking revenge. While he knew his friends had a right to know that they might be in danger, he couldn't bring himself to put the fear of a living Slade Wilson in their hearts.

"Well" Beast Boy interjected, "The heist makes sense if Clock King is behind it. Twelve burglars on the north bank, nine burglars on the west, and only three on the east. All three heists taking place in exact synchronization. The thugs at each bank represented numbers on a clock. It sounds like his MO. Honestly he might have been lying to shift some of the blame away from himself. I read in one of your old notebooks that people tend to make stuff up if they're afraid of getting hurt."

Dick was impressed by Beast Boy's apparent deductive reasoning. "I'm sorry Beast Boy..." All three of them gave him a startled and questioning look before he continued. "I doubted your ability to lead the team, but you handled this mission perfectly, and your deduction makes perfect sense."

He stood without waiting for the debriefing to end, and left the table. Nightwing turned swiftly out of the living room and down the hallway towards his old room. Raven rose also, and floated after him.

"Hey. Wait." She called to him, landing and jogging to catch up to his long strides. Nightwing hung his head and pretended not to hear, quickening his pace.

"I said wait!" She finally caught up to him, and tugged his shoulder. She wasn't nearly strong enough to force him to turn, but he did anyway. "Don't you want to talk about what happened out there?"

He shook his head and turned to keep walking, but her hand on his shoulder held him in place. "No. I don't. Maybe I let some of my aggression out on Clock King, but I didn't do anything to him that won't heal in a few months."

"That's not the point!" she said, pulling her hood down to look in to his eyes. Those brilliant violet stars sapped the anger from him, and feeling suddenly ashamed, he averted his gaze to the floor.

"You don't need me here." He muttered. "Beast Boy is leading well, you guys could have finished this mission just as easily without me. You handled twelve armed men and a bomb by yourself, Raven. All I managed to do was nearly kill the Clock King. "

She tugged at his chin with her other hand, forcing him to look up at her."I never would have gotten there in time if not for you and the R1, and half those guys were still blinded by your grenade."

Letting out a deep sigh, she continued. "Without you there Clock King would have escaped while I dealt with the bomb. Because of you, he's going to be behind bars."

She smiled at him and gave his shoulder a squeeze, before letting go. "Come on, lets go to the kitchen, I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

She started to levitate again, and floated toward the kitchen. Nightwing watched her go for a minute, at a loss for words, but feeling that strange feeling in his stomach again; almost like someone had hooked a finger around his navel and yanked. Hard. He shook his head, trying to free himself of both his bewilderment and doubt, and followed her down the hall towards the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

Birds of a Feather 4

Author's Note: Okay so for the third time now, I don't own any of these characters. All characters and locations are property of DC Comics and Warner Brothers. (Are those really necessary, like I'm not making money off of this) Anyway, So this chapter is HUGE, to commemorate my first review! (thanks again to dazy belle for helping me reach a new milestone) We're gonna mix it up and shoot from Raven's perspective. If you don't like it, and want me to go back to Nightwing only, then let me know! Let's Continue

* * *

Nightwing ate his lunch in silence, only now and then looking up at Raven, and then averting his eyes just as quickly. She wasn't sure what he might be thinking, his face was like chiseled stone, betraying none of the emotion he'd shown earlier. He ate quickly and left the kitchen without saying anything, disappearing into the tower. Raven let out a sigh, rose from her seat, and dumped the remainder of her meal in the trash. She carried both of their plates to the sink, gave them a quick rinse, and tossed them into the dishwasher. The tower had become a much more sanitary home in the past five years, mostly by her own hand.

When she reached her bedroom the sun had begun to set, so she pulled her window shade open to watch it sink behind the city. Five years ago she'd never have watched the sun set; never let the light into this place, where the hope and joy it brought might lead to her downfall. With Trigon defeated, Raven had finally been allowed to let her guard down, access her emotions, and finally feel something other than minor annoyance, or irritation. She moved to her round bed, covered in black silk sheets, and laid down.

Her head bumped against something hard, surprising her, before she reached back to find the motorcycle helmet she'd tossed aside earlier, before the team meeting started. The red paint had faded a bit in five years, but the black and gold 'R' stylized on the front of the helmet - just above the visor- looked newly painted. She looked into the black visor, trying to see his mask behind it. He'd left this helmet behind. He'd left everything behind. There was no ceremony, no going away party, or even a goodbye. One day he was there, stopping a jewelry store heist by Clayface; the next he was gone. Just gone.

At the time, Raven was learning to explore her own emotions; learning to feel and understand things she'd kept locked away for as long as she could remember. If Robin had been hurting, or angry...she'd never know. He'd always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve. If Robin was angry, he let people know. If he was upset, you could see it in the way he carried himself. When he was having fun, he laughed the loudest and the longest. Seeing him now...angry...hateful...anguished. It threatened to overwhelm her.

She felt in her heart that she needed to help Nightwing. Not only for his own sake, but for hers as well. She'd watched from the doorway as he nearly beat Clock King senseless. The man had only been a target for NIghtwing's rage, regardless of any information he might have given up. Later, at the meeting, she could see the step by step process of his break down, even if Beast Boy or Cyborg hadn't noticed. Something was tormenting him inside. She knew the feeling all too well.

She sat up, and slid the helmet over her head. The visor covered the room in darkness, polarizing against the setting sun. Even after five years, the helmet still smelled like him, that faint scent of leather, sandalwood, and sweat. Before she realized it, she was inhaling deeply, capturing the scent, and letting it move through her. She closed her eyes and the image of his face swam in her mind, not as he was then, but as he was now. His short,dark hair, always playfully tousled, falling now again into his face. His soft lips, turned downward in a resting frown. He'd smiled today -only briefly- when she ribbed him about his new costume, but it had lit up her world. Seeing it contorted in rage against the Clock King had terrified her. She never wanted to see it again.

The sound of tires on gravel snapped her out of her reverie. At first she thought it was Nightwing leaving the tower once again on his motorcycle, but when she jumped up to gaze out of her window, she realized it was actually a car coming towards the tower. Raven watched a vintage Rolls Royce make it's way past the gate and up the driveway to the tower. It pulled around, and a man in a suit climbed out of the driver seat. Curious, Raven opened a black hole to the front door, on the first floor. She was halfway through the portal when she embarrassingly realized she was still wearing Robin's helmet. She yanked it off, and set it on her dresser before continuing through the portal.

The doorbell rang just as Raven arrived. She opened the door to find an elderly man, dressed very nicely, and holding a suitcase. He was likely in his seventies, with balding gray hair, and a pencil thin mustache. He raised a white-gloved hand to his mouth, gave a small cough, and addressed her.

"Good evening Madam. This is the residence of the Teen Titans, is it not?" He stood high, and spoke with a faint British accent.

"Uh...Yeah. This is Titan's Tower, the one shaped like a giant T." The man didn't seem to catch the inflection in her voice.

"Ah. Yes. Very good. Is there a masked vigilante by the name of Nightwing here?" He bobbed his head slightly, attempting to peek past her. The sight of this very old man on the doorstep wtih a suitcase, asking for Nightwing was so strange that Raven couldn't find herself to even question it.

"Yeah...He got here earlier." The man sighed with relief, slouching for a hair of a second. "So Barbara was correct, thank goodness! When his helmet communicator and motorcycle shut down, I feared he'd been in an accident or worse. I know how he drives those tunnels in the dark, and I've told him a hundred times..."

"So are you like...his grandpa or something?" Raven interjected. The man seemed shocked, though rather from her interruption or accusation she couldn't tell.

"You could say something like that, yes. Could you...by chance, grab Master...Nightwing for me?" The man continued to try and duck around Raven, peeking further into the house.

"Um. No, he's on a mission." She lied. The old man seemed to have bought it. He held the small suit case in front of him, and bowed his head.

"Please see to it that he receives this suit case, I fear the only change of clothes he has here will no longer fit him, and without someone around to do his laundry...well I fear the worst." Raven took the suitcase, still in shock over the entire ordeal, and wondering why Nightwing hadn't come to the door himself. The ring would only be heard on the first floor, but the comm panels throughout the house would have displayed the message that someone was at the door.

"Uh...okay. I'll make sure he gets it." The old man nodded, and bowed deeply.

"Thank you very much, Madam. Do have a good night." He turned back to the driveway, and made for his car, leaving a flabbergasted Raven with a suitcase full of clothes for a man she suddenly realized she knew very little about.

The door to his old room was shut, but so far Raven's knocks went unanswered.

"Hey, Night...I have some stuff for you, do you wanna open the door?" She knocked again, without hearing an answer. She took a moment to weigh her options, and then pulled at the door handle. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. She twisted it open, and took a peek inside.

He was gone. She felt panic rising, but squashed it down. He wouldn't leave the tower for good; not so soon after coming back. She wheeled the suit case in, shut the door, and got her first good look around the room. Hanging on every part of every wall were pictures, newspaper clippings, and sticky notes. Each one had a string of yarn stretching out to connect it to another, like some intense game of connect the dots. The newspaper clippings were old, and the photographs were badly faded.

A closer inspection showed that each and every clipping and photographs were of criminals that the Teen Titan's had brought down. Here a photo of Clayface being hauled away in a giant cylinder, there a photo of Slade standing on a roof top, the thunder brothers brought down and arrested, Mad Maud sent to an asylum for the criminally insane, the H.I.V.E. dismantled and brought down. There were two photographs on the wall that weren't strung together with yarn. The first, a picture of Red X, surrounded by sticky notes with giant red question marks on them. The second was the only picture that had been framed, and still in good condition. It was a photo of her and Robin, sitting on the roof meditating.

She stared at the photo for what felt like eternity. Her trance was broken when she stubbed her toe on his desk, and she realized ashamedly that she'd been trying to get closer to the photo. On the desk itself was a second picture frame, which had been turned down so that the picture was not visible. She fought the temptation to peek at the photo, reminding herself that she shouldn't even be in his room.

She set the suit case on his bed, before a horrible thought struck her. When Robin left Titan's Tower five years ago, he hadn't packed any of his old clothes. She'd never seen him in anything other than a uniform, but she was well aware that he wore clothing beneath the costume. Unlike Cyborg or Beast Boy, Nightwing had an alias; a secret identity that none of them knew. He often spoke of things like school, and time spent with his mentor, but had never divulged his secrets to any of the Titans...not even to Starfire, whom he'd hounded after for years.

Raven felt an insatiable curiosity to know more about Nightwing, and pulling open his dresser revealed clothing, just as she'd thought it would. She pulled each neatly folded article of clothing out one at a time, becoming more and more disappointed by the lack of anything that might tell her more about him. The clothes were fairly mundane; solid colored t-shirts and denim pants, and black socks. Feeling slightly ashamed, she popped open the suit case, and moved his pristinely folded clothes into the dresser. Before she left, she scooped the old clothes into her arms, resolving to at least wash, and return them to their owner.

She floated down the hallway, blinded by the pile of clothes she held in each arm. Her slow and steady levitation pace did not save her from running into what felt like a metal wall.

"Hey, watch where you're goin'! Where are you goin'?" Raven bent down to pick up the scattered articles of clothing that had fallen at Cyborg's feet. He bent down to help her retrieve them, thankfully not questioning her on their origin.

"I hope you aren't going to go wash all this." He said warningly. "Beast Boy is washing his socks right now, and you do NOT wanna be in there for that...event." He shuddered dramatically, before handing her the rest of the clothing.

"Oh boy...last time he washed them the whole tower smelled like rancid cheese. Well thanks for the heads up." She turned to float away, but felt Cyborg's massive metal hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, are you doin' okay Rae? Is Nightwing alright? I saw you guys talkin' in the hallway, and I know he just got back and..."

"Everything's fine." She lied. "He was just upset because he didn't get to beat as many bad guys as us on his first mission back." It sounded sincere, and Cyborg wasn't the type to pry.

"Aw, well. Tell him I'll save him some next time!" He gave one of his award winning grins, and a big thumbs up, before turning and lumbering down the hallway. Raven turned back around, meaning to dump the clothes back at Nightwing's door, and explain the situation.

Somehow she ended up in her own room, sitting cross legged in her bed with a huge pile of clothes on the ground, and a t-shirt in her arms. Every now and then she'd take a big whiff of it, hold it, and then exhale slowly. Underneath the smell of must there was that same distinctive scent of leather and sandalwood. Soon the smell of the first t-shirt was fading, and she found herself reaching for another, before mentally slapping herself.

Get a hold of yourself Raven! she thought to herself. The sun had set completely, Nightwing was gone from the tower, and every second he spent away was a second where she couldn't stop thinking about him. She resolved to meditate, pushing the clothes away, and entering a cross-legged position. Holding her hands out, she began to levitate, and chant.

 **Azarath, Metrion, Zenthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zenthos...** _his dark, touchable hair she could comb for hours..._ **Azarath, Metrion, Zenthos**. **Azarath Metrion, Zenthos...** _his mischievous grin..._ **Azarath, Metrion...** _the softness of his lips..._

"Get it together!" She screamed in frustration, her eyes snapping open, as she fell from her levitation. It was easy for Raven to convince herself that an abundance of energy was disrupting her meditation, and not some man she didn't even know. Donning her shoes, she threw the door open with magic, and made her way down the hall. Beast Boy was half-watching, half-sleeping through an episode of Funniest Internet Videos in the living room, and Cyborg was nowhere to be seen.

A short elevator ride brought her to the second floor Gymnasium. Bruce Wayne, the billionaire who'd donated the original Titan's tower to the 'Heroes of Jump City', and oversaw the reconstruction of a new tower, hadn't spared a single expense in the outfitting of the tower. The gym was home to a sparring arena, gymnastics court, an indoor track, and even a swimming pool. There were also countless work out machines like treadmills, weights, a weird leg thingy that Raven had hurt herself on that one time, and to top it all off, a basketball court.

Raven's favorite treadmill overlooked the gymnastics equipment, and had a built in laptop. She plugged in a pair of headphones sitting on the treadmill, and found her favorite playlist. Setting the machine, she broke into a rhythmic jog as classical orchestra blared in her ear drums.

She was midway through Beethoven's fifth when the door on the far side of the gym opened. Nightwing walked in, wearing a slimmed down version of his regular costume. This outfit didn't have his infamous utility belt, the holster holding his batons were gone, and instead of boots, it came to an end in slippers. She couldn't tell from a distance, but it also seemed to be made of a softer fabric. With a start she realized it was a costumed version of gymnasts wear.

He didn't seem to notice her, his eyes were focused on the gymnastic equipment several yards away from her, and a short half wall separated the two areas. She watched as he reached the edge of the soft mat that covered the floor around the equipment, dropped a small back pack on the ground, and rifled through it. A moment later his hands came up, and he patted them together, releasing a fine chalk into the air. Without hesitating, Nightwing broke into a run, and leaped high off of the ground, easily grabbing hold of the horizontal bars several feet off of the ground.

Raven watched entranced, as he spun around them several times, then let go to grab onto a smaller set of bars below him. She watched him repeat the same maneuver on the smaller bar, moving back to the larger bar, before flipping off and grabbing two nearby rings. On the rings he rotated, flipping back and forth, and around in a dizzying pattern that Raven could barely follow.

He leaped up, using only his arms to propel him, before landing on a pommel horse, his hands grabbing the rungs, and holding him vertically in the air. He held that position for several seconds, his arms quivering from strain, sweat glistening down his skin, giving his black hair a bright sheen. His brow was furrowed, intent on holding the position for as long as possible. Slowly his legs started to rock back and forth, but instead of falling from the strain, he gave his arms a slight bend, and vaulted off of the pommel horse, landing flat on his feet, with his back straight. Raven had never cared much for the Olympics, but she had no doubt that his display would have won him the gold medal in a heart beat.

He looked up at her, noticing her for the first time, and giving a sheepish wave. She waved back, and suddenly realized she'd stopped running. Embarrassed, she hopped off of the treadmill, as if she'd meant to stop running in the first place, and walked over to join him. He seemed not to notice, and moved away to the sparring arena.

The sparring arena was a small tiled square with ropes like a boxing ring, but it also contained a small computer terminal, that allowed the user to create a fighting hologram. Raven reached Nightwing just as he started to punch a few commands into the keypad. Without speaking, he stepped into the ring just as four holo-men materialized. The featureless figures rushed Nightwing at once, but he leaped into the air, delivering a split kick to two of them, before landing and sweeping the legs out of the other two. They shattered into orbs of light before disappearing. Raven waited near the console as he walked back.

"Hey. Can I talk to you?" she asked, not really knowing what she wanted to say, but relishing the idea of his company. He looked at her for a moment, a blank stare masking his feelings.

"Sorry, I'm trying to practice, maybe another time." He pushed another command on the console and stepped back into the ring. Raven felt the sudden sting of hurt, followed by the shock of anger. Five years ago she would have quelled those emotions, turned them into minor annoyance and dismissal, but now she let her anger burn.

"Are you trying to avoid me?!" she shouted over the sounds of his training session. He dispatched five more enemies easily, before turning to her.

"I'm just trying to stay in shape." he answered, blankly.

 _Like that's necessary_ she thought to herself. Before he could return to the console she furiously punched in a command of her own.

"Initiate Robin Protocol" a computer voice hummed. Suddenly twelve holo-men appeared on the arena floor, all armed with knives, pipes, or chains. Nightwing didn't balk from the challenge, and within a few minutes had dispatched all twelve foes without taking a single hit.

"Nice try Raven, but I could have done that five years ago. It's not much of a challenge now." He said, finally letting some arrogance creep into his tone. Her face hardened in response.

"Then spar with me." she said, blocking his path to the console. He looked incredulous for a split second, before smirking.

"I don't think that's a good idea." he said casually. "I don't think I've ever seen you throw a punch in your life."

"First time for everything!" she bit back. Nightwing stepped back into the arena, spreading his arms wide, accepting her challenge. She walked forward until they were only a few feet apart, and entered into a fighting stance.

"If you really want to do this" he combed a hand through his slick black hair, pulling it out of his eyes. "I just want you to know, that I'm not afraid to hit a girl."

Raven gave him a mischievous smile. "Good, neither am I." He frowned before entering his own fighting stance. Nightwing stood tall with his legs close together, one hand behind his back and the other palm out, level with his chest. Raven lunged at him, preparing to punch him hard in the stomach, but he easily -almost playfully- batted her hand away. She flipped her cloak to blind him, and darted backwards out of reach. Nightwing was grinning, and she realized he hadn't even tried to counterattack.

"I thought you said you weren't afraid to hit a girl" she shouted bitterly.

He laughed in response. "I also said I was looking for a challenge." He resumed his stance, and Raven rushed in for another punch. Instead of sweeping her right fist away, he shuffled to dodge her left. Except the feint never came, had never been planned, and she planted her fist right in his abdomen.

It felt like hitting a concrete wall, and her hand crumpled against his stomach.

"Ah! What are you wearing under that!" he laughed again, more deeply as she massaged her injured hand.

"Just a t-shirt and jeans." he responded, resuming his stance. This time though, he spread his legs wide, and waved her forward. Shaking off the pulsating in her hand, she readied herself for another charge.

This time, just as she charged she shouted **Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!** and a rack of nearby dumbbells flew forward, aimed at Nightwing's head. His eyes widened as he dodged them, but didn't see her foot come up to plant itself right onto his perfect square jaw. He fell backward onto the mat, briefly stunned -either by the pain, or surprise- Raven couldn't be sure.

"I'm not really sure that was fair." He said, standing and rubbing his jaw. "I mean I can't use magic on you, and I left my utility belt in the bag." She laughed, folding her arms on her chest.

"Bad guys aren't going to fight fair either you know. You cant just punch your way out of every problem." Nightwing frowned, as if he were thinking deeply on her response. This time she didn't give him a chance to be ready, she rushed at him, her hands glowing with black magic as she punched at him again. This time, when her fist connected with his stomach it was he who reeled from the pain; the black magic augmenting her strength.

He recovered, staring at her wide eyed. "I didn't know you could do that." She grinned, flexing her biceps.

"There's a lot that you don't know about me. It'd probably take four days to tell you everything my powers can do." He laughed, and readied himself before she had the chance to attack again.

This time, before she could strike, he dashed forward, and struck out with his palm. Raven grabbed his arm, pulling him forward, and rolling onto her back, planted her feet onto his chest, flipping him behind her. He hit he mat, but recovered immediately, eyes once again full of shock and surprise.

"You've been...practicing." he stated dumbly. Raven felt a championship grin build on her face.

"Yeah, I've been doing that Robin Protocol every week for the past four years." She ducked into another fighting stance, and this time he mimicked her. A flurry of punches on both ends ensued, but just as she was about to land a punch at his collar, he swept her leg out from underneath her.

Raven tumbled, grabbing onto Nightwing's shirt collar as she fell. He let out a startled cry as they both tumbled to the mat. Raven's head hit the mat hard, and when she opened her eyes she was face to face with Nightwing, only inches away from those soft lips. He stared down at her, a lost gaze peeking nearly into her soul. He'd pinned her to the ground with his body, and she felt each and every chiseled contour of his muscular body. From this distance his scent was intoxicating, and she felt like she would drown in the smell of leather and sandalwood. Raven closed her eyes, waiting for something...anything to happen.


	5. Chapter 5

Birds of a Feather 5

Authors Note: Special thanks to dazy belle for my second review, and some insight onto what some of you might be looking for. Another special thanks to . for favoriting my story! Some pretty big stuff is coming up, and I'm afraid I'm rushing it a bit, but the pay off is just so good! I might have to change the rating, if you're unhappy with the T rating let me know. Anyway blah blah blah, all rights reserved blah blah blah WB blah blah blah DC Comics...lets go!

* * *

The gymnasium door exploded open. Nightwing leaped to his feet, offering his hand to the still stunned Raven. She stood up on her own, cloaking her burning red face deep inside her hood.

"Nightwing? Rae? You two in here!?" Cyborg's booming voice echoed off of the gym walls. He spotted the two in the arena and sauntered over. "Oh there you are. Was Raven showing you her new moves Night? She's been practicing almost every day since you left...You okay Raven?" He looked between the two of them questioningly.

"Yes!" Raven shouted, a little too loudly. "I was just...leaving..."

"Oh, well..." Cyborg replied, as Nightwing dusted his uniform roughly, staring intently at the ground.

"Night, I got your communicator in the lab, and I wanted to show you some other things I was working on. Catch you later Rae." He grabbed Nightwing by the shoulder and started to pull him towards the door. Nightwing stopped just long enough to grab his backpack, took one last look at Raven, and left with Cyborg.

She waited for what seemed like a lifetime after they left, before finally pulling her hood down. Raven immediately rushed to the pool, ducking her head into the cold water and let out a long scream. Raven had always been in total control over her emotions, even after her father's defeat. Slowly, surely, she'd allowed herself to explore every emotion that she'd locked away for so long; happiness, sadness, unbridled anger, and even silliness. Now though, she had no idea what was coming over her.

Raven found herself wanting to laugh, and cry, and jump, and shout, and cheer all at once, but all she could muster was a scream. So she did. With her head submersed in the frigid pool water she screamed until her lungs were fit to burst, came up for a breath of air, and then plunged back in to scream again, letting the feeling rip through her like some kind of primal monster, threatening to tear her being apart.

All around her, gym equipment started to malfunction, treadmills started to run at their highest setting, dumbbells and weight machines bent and warped at odd angles, and the pool itself started to bubble, as if it were boiling. Holo-men popped up in the arena, and then immediately exploded into fractures of light, and all of the basketball hoops bent down until the backboards touched the court.

Finally, after one last plunge into the now boiling hot pool, Raven managed to calm herself down. She combed sopping wet hair out of her eyes, and immediately floated through a black hole. It opened up just above her bed, and she fell down hard, right onto a pile of Robin's shirts. The rogue emotion returned immediately, and her dresser exploded in a shower of wood splinters, and smoldering clothes.

 _Come on Raven, you're losing it!_ She thought to herself. She jumped up, and made for the door, channeling black magic at the handle. The door instead broke from it's hinges, and fell into the hallway. Raven's unique brand of magic was controlled by her emotions, and the more she felt something, the stronger, and more unpredictable her powers became. To lock her demon lord father away, Raven had taken great care to control her emotions, cataloging them, absorbing them, and deflecting them into some form of annoyance or irritation.

To outsiders, it seemed that Raven was cold-hearted, but her friends were among the few to understand, and accept Raven. Robin had always been someone Raven felt she could talk to, confide her problems in, and seek for advice. As the team leader he was always willing to lend an ear to a team mate who needed help, and as an expert in psychology, he always seemed to have an answer.

The problem was, thinking about _Him_ was the cause of her renegade feelings, so she couldn't ask him for help. Cyborg's answer to most problems was either some new invention, exercise, or a big meal. Beast Boy was...well...Beast Boy. That left only one friend for Raven to confide in, and that friend would most certainly have the answer. Even if it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.

Carefully, like a surgeon, she replaced her door to it's hinges, and made her way to the elevator. Raven stepped onto the elevator, and, using her hand, pushed the button for the fourth floor communications room. The door opened onto a eerily glowing room full of computer terminals, with wires scattered about the floor like veins. There were twelve terminals in total, each with displays of varying sizes. Raven punched a command into the elevator console -Block Comm-Room Access- and made her way to the terminal at the far end of the room. Warming it up, she made the call.

The screen was blank for a few seconds, before finally the fiery red head on the other line answered the call.

"Raven? Oh it is Raven!" Starfire nearly exploded from joy. "Why are you calling so late? Or is it early for you? Are you sick? Is the Beast Boy sick? Ah! Did Doctor Light kidnap Cyborg?! I'll be there right away!" She jumped from her seat before Raven had the chance to process her sheer energy.

"No wait!" Starfire sat back down in front of her own communications device, looking perplexed. "Calm down Star. I just wanted to talk to you about something...What's wrong with your stomach?"

Starfire was practically vibrating with excitement. "Oooh most joyous news! But you first, It must be important for you to call Tamaran from Earth!"

Raven caught Starfire up on the return of Robin- now known as Nightwing - and then tried her best to explain in exact detail the strange new emotion that had been plaguing her all afternoon. She tried her best to lay out how frustrating, and exhilarating it felt, and put words to why her mind kept racing at every thought or mention of Nightwing.

"...And it feels like I need to throw up, and eat everything in sight at the same time. I'm...not really sure what's wrong with me. Am I sick?"

"Sick?!" Starfire shrieked."He is making you feel like you've ingested a whole bucket full of Shnarckle berries, and your insides have melted into goo!?"

"Uh...sure." Raven answered, hesitantly.

"Oh Raven!" Starfire was visibly vibrating now. "You are in the love with him! Go to your Zorthnack, and profess to him your feelings! But don't throw up!"

"No." Raven stated finally. Starfire gave her a questioning look, but Raven continued before she could ask. "I'm not in love. That's not happening. I don't DO that."

Starfire looked crestfallen, but renewed herself quickly. "Don't say that Raven! Love is amazing. It is like drinking the mustard all day with no fear of tummy aches! Please, Raven, you have to accept that you love him!"

"I don't believe you." Raven stated flatly. She was about to end the call when she remembered something. "So what's your big news?"

Starfire stood so that her midriff was in full view of the display. "Look! My tummy is the size of the ball of bowling! I'm going to have a child!"

Raven smiled, caught in the sheer joy radiating from the pregnant Starfire. "That's good news Star, I'm glad to hear it."

Off screen, Raven could hear a door opening near Starfire. "Koriand'r? Are you here darling? Are you speaking with someone?"

Starfire turned to face the man who'd entered her bedroom. "Yes my sweet Phy'zzon. I'm speaking to my friend Raven." A well dressed Tamaranean man stepped into the display.

"Ah yes, very nice to finally meet you Miss Raven. I am General Phy'zzon of the Tamaranean Army, husband of Princess Koriand'r, whom you know as Starfire, and soon, the father of her child." He smiled warmly, before wrapping an arm around the elated Starfire.

Raven gave them both a questioning look. " Um...No offense General, but what happened to Prince Karras." Starfire looked down, a frown furrowing her brow, and General Phy'zzon shook his head sadly.

"Unfortunately, Prince Karras has passed away. My beautiful wife has served her mourning time appropriately, and chosen me as her new mate. Our kingdom has just learned of the news of our child, and overall the public could not be happier. Well, not happier than we are, in any case."

That brought the smile back to Starfire's face, and she returned to the chair in front of the display. "I will say it again, Raven. You are in the love, and should not run from it. Love is a beautiful thing; it has brought my General to me, and it will bring happiness to you too, as well as Robin...I mean the Nightwings. Farewell, friend! I will try to visit soon, but please call more often!" And with that, the call ended.

Raven felt exhausted. Starfire's notion of love, as well as the pure exuberant energy that seemed to radiate from her like fire, had left Raven feeling tired, and worst of all, uncertain. She did not, could not, accept the idea that she loved Nightwing. She didn't know anything about him.

 _Except that his lips are so soft, and perfect..._ "Enough!" she shouted. Raven did NOT love him. She couldn't. She shouldn't... _but you want to._

Cared for. She cared for him, sure. He had been gone for five years, with no contact. She'd worried about him, hoped he was alright, maybe. He was going through some turmoil, which had to be why he'd come back. Something had gone wrong, somewhere, surely. She didn't want to see him suffer. She cared for him. _You love him._

Raven stormed out of the Comm-Room, wires flying and screen's exploding in her wake. The elevator nearly buckled as it came to a halt at the fifth floor. She found Cyborg's room, and knocked hard, putting dents in the metal door each time. She could hear him on the other side, talking to someone on the phone.

"Alright, babe. Okay. I'm sorry, I'll let them know. Okay sweetheart. Alright, Love ya' Jinx, I'll call you later. Alright bye sweetie...Come in!" The door slid open with a faint whooshing sound. Cyborg sat at his desk, which contained a computer screen and a litter of blueprints that were illegible to Raven.

"Where did Nightwing go?" She asked flatly.

Cyborg looked around, scratching at his head. "Uh, I don't know. I handed him his communicator and he disappeared. Did uh...did something happen between you two in the gym? He seemed pretty out of it, and come to think of it, you didn't sound too happy either."

Raven floated back a step, thankful that somewhere between the Comm-Room and the fifth floor she'd raised her hood. "Uh no. Nothing happened. We were sparring and things got a little out of hand, and I hit him really hard. That's all."

He gave her a knowing smirk. "Uh-huh. Well, I don't know where he went, said he had some things to prep but that he wasn't leaving the tower. Whatever's going on, I hope you two figure it out..."

She cut him off "There's nothing to figure out!" and left the room, the door slamming shut much faster than it was meant to.

She didn't know why she was looking for Nightwing, didn't know what she'd say to him once she saw him. All Raven knew was that she had to learn more about him. She needed to know who Nightwing was; the person behind the mask, and what made him into the man he was now...the man she was (according to Starfire) falling in love with.

She checked his room, this time forgoing the knock, and forcing the door open with magic, though she was more careful to keep it on it's hinges. The room was empty, though the suit case she'd brought earlier had been unpacked. The room had also been finely dusted, and the old newspaper clippings and photos had been torn down, except she noticed, the framed photograph of her.

She searched the kitchen, only to find Silky with the entire refrigerator halfway down it's throat. After dealing with that, Raven checked the living room, where Beast Boy was watching tv.

"Hey Rae Rae, I wanted to ask you something." he said from the couch.

"Later Beast Boy." She answered, irritated. He shrugged and went back to the television, while Raven took the elevator down to the gym. She didn't find him in the gym, the Comm-Room, the Danger Room, or the garage. His motorcycle was still in the garage, so she knew he hadn't left the tower. Raven roared in frustration, causing a tool box to melt into a puddle of paint and metal.

The last place Raven checked was the library, which was also empty. Sighing, she grabbed a book off of a shelf at random, and without checking the title, returned to the living room. Beast Boy was still sitting on the couch, this time watching Tiny Toon Adventures.

"Hey girl." he said, trying to sound suave. She gave an irritated humph and flopped onto the couch, flipping the book open to a random page. She groaned as she opened onto a page in Sense and Sensibility, a book written by Jane Austen about the love lives of two sisters. She'd read Sense and Sensibility many times before, but the irony that she'd drawn this of all books in the library was not lost on Raven. She stared at the pages more than she read them, trying to think of anything other than Nightwing. Instead his face swam through her thoughts.

It occurred to Raven- and suddenly would not leave her mind- that she had never seen Nightwing without a mask on. Even when disguised in Tokyo six years ago, he'd worn dark sunglasses the entire time. Both his Robin and Nightwing mask had a thin layer of white plastic-like material over his eyes, which made them impossible to see, though she assumed it was some sort of gadget, since she would often see them glow blue in the dark.

A thought came to her suddenly: What if he was blind? Or cross-eyed? An image of a cross-eyed, blind, and suddenlt hunchbacked Nightwing swam through her head, and her whole body shuddered. Luckily, Beast Boy broke her concentration when his show went to commercial.

"Hey Rae. Do you wanna go see a movie with me tomorrow?"

"No." she stated flatly. He turned to her with wide eyes.

"Please! We can get dinner and everything! We can even watch a chick-flick if you want!"

She pretended to consider his proposal. "In that case...definitely no." She said, staring at him sourly. Beast Boy morphed into a scruffy looking dog and whined plaintively.

"The answer is still no." In response Beast Boy became a wide eyed, mewling kitten. Raven continued to stare icily, until the elevator pinged. Nightwing walked into the living room.

"I'm looking for someone to patrol the city with me. It's my first night back in Jump City and I want to take a look at what's changed."

He glanced very briefly at Beast Boy, before his eyes settled on Raven. Her heart jumped into her throat, and her tongue went down to meet it. Beast Boy very quickly morphed back into his regular form.

"Oh! Me! I'll go! We can have a bro's night out!" He hopped up and down excitedly.

"I don't know, the last time I went on patrol with you, all you did was talk the entire time. A couple thugs heard you and started firing at us with machine guns." Nightwing looked at him skeptically.

Beast Boy held one hand up defensively, the other covering his heart in mock hurt. "Bro that was like five years ago! I'm an adult now! I've changed!"

Raven pretended to be very interested in her book. "No you haven't." She said flatly. "You should take Cyborg. This is a good book." She said, flipping the page she hadn't been reading.

Nightwing scratched the back of his head, his brow arching. "I don't mean to judge, but Cyborg can't really keep up with me."

Cyborg's head popped out from his door down the hallway. "It's true! And I make a lot of noise!"

"So Raven...Will you go on patrol with me?" He finally asked. Raven's heart proved that it had actually never left her chest, as it started hammering at her rib cage. She wanted to scream _Yes!_ at the top of her lungs, but also bury herself in a solid metal coffin for the rest of eternity.

Finally, through a seemingly impossible force of will, she managed a halfhearted, and disinterested "Sure." She set down the book raised her hood so that no one would see her fiery red face, and levitated over the couch.

Nightwing was completely silent as they made their way down the elevator and into the garage. He went to his motorcycle, popped open a compartment under the seat, and handed her a black helmet. "Here take this, I don't know what happened to the other one, but I bought two...just in case." He tossed her the black helmet, which she caught using magic; cracking the visor a little.

"You might want to take off your hood before you put it on. Otherwise it might not be very comfortable." He said as he mounted the bike.

"No thanks" She croaked "I'm fine this way." She climbed onto the back of the motorcycle, delicately wrapping her arms around his startlingly sculpted stomach. This time he bolted out of the garage at break-neck speed, not bothering to toggle the headlight.

Wearing her hood beneath the helmet had indeed been a bad idea. The helmet had squashed it over her eyes, so that the combined darkness of the cowl and the visor, as well as constant stream of light from street lamps and late night shops made for a dizzying drive. Luckily it was kept short, as Nightwing stopped the motorcycle after only about ten minutes. Raven ripped the helmet from her head, gulping down fresh air, and taking in her surroundings.

He'd parked the bike in an alleyway, not far from the harbor. Here in this part of the city, factories and warehouses lined the streets, waiting to unload their haul onto the ships that docked at the port. From there they would make the trip to other cities on the coast, or across the Atlantic to Europe and Africa. There was little light to be had here, and even as accustomed to seeing in the dark as she was, Raven could hardly make out any detail outside of the alleyway. Luckily, Nightwing didn't seem to have an issue, and she noticed his mask was giving off that faint blue glow again.

"We're going up." He said casually. Raven looked up to see the metal roof of one of the many warehouses above. Nightwing reached into his utility belt, pulled out a small object shaped like a gun, with a hook on the end. He pointed it toward the roof, and pulled the trigger. The grapnel gun fired with almost no noise, launching the grappling hook into the air, where it punched through the tin roof. A long black rope was connected to the hook, and when Nightwing released the trigger, it started to contract back into the gun. He'd successfully reached the top in less than five seconds. Raven followed, simply by levitating to the top.

"So how does that work exactly?" She asked, feigning mild interest. He looked down to the gun, before holding up.

"This? It's compressed air, that launches the grapnel when I pull the trigger. Kind of like a really strong NERF gun. Not everyone can levitate."

"Cool." Raven stated dully, though on the inside her heart gave a little whoop. She'd gotten some information out of Nightwing already, even if it was something she'd always known. He was resourceful.

"That's weird." he stated looking at her. "You've never pretended to be interested in my gadgets before."

Raven blushed scarlet, and blessed herself for never removing her hood. "I'm just trying to make conversation." she covered quickly.

He shrugged it off, walking to the end of the slanted tin roof. "Just don't become a Beast Boy." She was about to respond when a large crash sounded from inside the building below. Nightwing ran over to a nearby sky light, popped the lock within a millisecond, and leaped into the building. Raven flew to the edge, peering deep inside to try and see him. She couldn't make anything out in the dark room below, but luckily she didn't have to. Less than a minute later his grapnel hit the edge of the window, and he was pulled back up by the gadget.

"It was just a really big rat knocking over a crate. Let's move on, I don't see any activity taking place here tonight." Raven nodded and followed him, floating behind as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, now and then using his grapnel gun to reach further off buildings. Slowly they made their way from the factory district, and into the city proper.

"The warehouses used to be a big hot spot for smuggling." He said, almost disappointed, when they hit the sixth story roof of a small apartment building.

"Yeah," Raven agreed. "But with Titan's Tower so close, a lot of criminals stopped bothering, since it took us less than a few minutes to reach them with the T-Ship." He nodded, as if it made sense to him.

"So what happened to the T-Ship anyway?" He asked, stepping to the edge of the apartment building and looking down.

"Well when you and Starfire left it lost a lot of it's usefulness. Cyborg has been working on a new ship but he has a hard time focusing on one project. That's why the car is still busted." She came to join him at the building's edge, looking down into the alleyway below.

"Hm...There's a domestic abuse call, but the police will handle that. Im also getting reports of suspicious activity downtown..." Raven looked at him curiously.

"I never did find out how you know all that." She said finally.

He looked to her quizzically. "Really? I haven't told any of you before? My mask has an ear piece and I can tune into police radio transmissions. It's also how I manage to hear things when it's really quiet." He whispered the last part of his sentence, to emphasize, before smiling at her.

Raven finally lowered her hood, doing her best to look curious. "You've never told any of us anything about you. The only thing any of the Titan's know is that you used to work with Batman, and that your real parents..."

He stared intently at his boots. "Died. You can say it. I'm sorry, I guess I'm not really the sharing type, Raven. I know it might seem like I'm keeping things from the team, it's just my nature. Ha, I sound like Batman." he said bitterly.

She gave him another bewildered look, but he changed the subject.

"Let's check out that suspicious activity report." An alley cat started howling below, as the two leaped from the roof; Nightwing using his grapnel gun to swing from the building, and Raven following behind. A few minutes later they reached a financial building overlooking the city square. Below several men in masks were moving wooden crates from one van to another, while two others spoke in hushed tones.

"I knew it. A weapons deal. If we take them out those guns will be off the streets." Nightwing didn't wait for Raven to reply, instead he jumped from the roof of the building. He broke his fall by landing feet first on the chest of one of the men toting crates. Raven followed up as the men shook off their surprise.

 **"Azarath Metreon Zinthos!"** the wooden crates floated into the air, and then started crashing into the masked men, knocking them to the ground. One of the men who'd been negotiating tried to run, but found a bola wrapped around his ankles, throwing him to the ground. The other pulled a pistol from his belt, firing at Nightwing. The bullets caught in the air, surrounded by a faint black tint. They exploded in midair, and the man's gun followed suit.

Using a few other bola, and some handcuffs, Nightwing tied the men to the rear bumper of one of the vans, while Raven stacked the crates. A few moments later police sirens blared, and the two heroes returned to their post on the rooftops above. They traveled along the rooftops awhile longer, coming to a stop at a two story ice cream parlor.

"Do you remember this place?" Raven asked, gazing whistfully to the street below.

Nightwing nodded, "This is where you helped us convince Starfire to stop trying to kill us. It's where we teamed up to stop the Gordanians. I invited you to join the Teen Titan's here." She nodded, lost in the memory. So much had changed since then. Raven had learned so much about herself, her friends, and the world around her. Or so she'd thought. Robin was still a mystery to her, and the more she'd learned over the years, the more questions she had. She resolved to find answers tonight, but all she'd seen so far was that he used a lot of gadgets...and she already knew that.

They continued their rounds, moving clock-wise around the outer perimeter of Downtown, and then making their way inwards to the larger buildings. Finally they were moving between buildings as high as forty stories. The wind whipped Raven's cloak about, and it was impossible to keep the cowl around her head. Finally they came to a rest on top of a fifty story sky scraper, hosting a giant neon W on it's rooftop.

"We're going to break here, and then start making our way back." He sat down beneath one of the huge metal rods holding the neon sign in place. "This is where I fought Slade for the first time. I was hoping to find some more information on what the Clock King said."

"You could have beaten it out of one of those gun merchants." Raven spat bitterly, moving towards the edge of the building. Nightwing jumped back onto his feet.

"Are you going to start on that again? It got answers from him! He was a criminal!"

Raven held her hands up placatingly. "I get it, he got what he deserved." She sighed, lowering her hands. "You really aren't the same person you were five years ago. Robin was..."

"Robin is gone." He said coldly, leaning against the metal rod.

Raven shook her head sadly, "I don't think he is. I think he's just buried down there, under something that you're afraid to dig up."

"You don't know me." He said, turning away. Raven's eyes snapped up to him, and she found her feet hitting the asphalted roof. A few short strides felt like a mile as she moved closer to stand in front of him.

"You're right! That's the problem! I don't know you, and I never will so long as you keep hiding everything from everyone!" Fury rose in her voice, and the metal rods of the W started to bend, tilting the monolithic neon sign.

"I don't know you. But...I want to." She said finally, the anger draining from her.

He looked down at her, a deep furrow running across his brow, as if lost in thought. Finally he spoke. "If people know who I am, then they could become targets for my enemies."

Raven blinked, bewildered, before letting out a guffaw. " In case you didn't notice, I'm a fucking Superhero!" She shouted. "I'm already a target for your enemies, my enemies, Beast Boy's enemies...Wonder fucking Woman's enemies...!"

"Okay, okay, I get the point. It made a lot more sense when Batman said it...actually I'm sure Diana said the same thing you did."

She gave him another perplexed look, before answering him angrily. "I have no idea what you're talking about. In fact, I don't even know what you look like under that stupid mask!"

He frowned, and pulled himself off of the metal rod to stand upright.

"Okay. But I'm warning you..."

"Stuff your warning." She interjected.

He sighed deeply. "Do you want to know more about me or not? I don't exactly share with everybody. The last girl I shared anything with dumped me right inside this building."

 _YES_ "If you're going to be melancholy about it..." she said sarcastically.

"You really are infuriating sometimes." He stated matter-of-factly. "Fine. My real name is obviously not Nightwing."

Raven scoffed. "You don't say!" He groaned, pulling his hand over his face.

"My real name is Richard Grayson. My friend's call me Dick." He braced himself for the giggle that never came.

"You're real friends call you Robin." Raven said, looking up at him.

Nightwing frowned, and continued. "The building that we're standing on top of is the Jump City branch of Wayne Enterprises." He pointed up to the colossal neon W above their heads. Raven looked up to see that it was leaning dangerously forward, and concentrated her efforts into up-righting it.

"This is the first place I fought Deathstroke...Slade Wilson. It's also owned by my adopted father."

Raven very quickly put two and two together. "Bruce Wayne is Batman. Wow that's really obvious when you think about it."

Nightwing laughed. "Yeah you'll never guess Superman's secret identity."

Raven didn't waste a second. "He's Clark Kent, that gigantic reporter for Metropolis. I saw him covering a story online once."

Nightwing let out another laugh. "Anyway, I came to live with Bruce when I was very young. I started training to become Robin when I was eight years old. I've spent the better part of my life doing this, and criminals still roam through every city I've touched. I left Batman to create the Teen Titans, and you know how that turned out."

Raven nodded. "What I don't understand is why you had to leave us." She said softly.

Nightwing sighed, and started inspecting his boots again. "Starfire left, and...well I was...heartbroken. I really cared about her. I left because being in Titan's Tower was hard for me. I had to get away from it."

Raven felt like a railroad spike had been driven into her heart.

Dick Grayson must have seen the look on her face, because he continued hastily. "I went to Blüdhaven to try and make a difference there. To become someone else. I gave up being Robin, and took more influence from Batman. He'd really shut down major crime organizations in Gotham by becoming this ruthless symbol of fear for every criminal in the city. I tried to go to Blüdhaven, and become that. But...I hated it. I'm not Batman. I'm not Bruce Wayne. But...I wasn't Robin anymore either."

He looked pained, and Raven instinctively put a hand on his shoulder. " You don't have to try to be Batman, and you especially don't have to be Bruce Wayne. No one is expecting that of you."

He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "It's funny. Batgirl said the same thing. We dated for awhile when I was in Blüdhaven. We went to the same college there. It didn't work out. She told me, what you told me. I didn't have to try to be Bruce Wayne. But in the end, that's what she wanted." his voice broke a little at his confession.

Nightwing covered his mask with his gloved hand, a deep frown etched across his face. Raven's heart shattered into a million pieces, and each piece broke into a million more.

"Richard Grayson. I can promise you one thing." Raven pulled his hand away from his mask.

"I only want you."

He wrapped his sinewy arms around her waist, drawing her flush against him.

"You know. If you wanted to take this mask off, I wouldn't stop you." He said.

Raven smiled mischievously. "You know, Boy Wonder. I don't think you could stop me if you tried."

Raven reached up, tugging at the corners of his mask, and it lifted off of his face easily. Two sapphire eyes reflected the moonlight like an endless ocean, threatening to drown Raven in their depths.

She felt her soul being swallowed into them, but as she prepared to lose herself completely to those jewels, Dick Grayson captured her mouth with his own. Softer than she could have ever imagined, they ghosted across her lips, and in that moment, she wished for eternity.

"You know." he said, pulling away. "I wanted to do that in the gym too."

"Shut up" She breathed, pulling him back down.

Far below a lonely wolf bayed the moon.


	6. Chapter 6

Birds of a Feather 6

Author's Note: Special thanks to mooncutie11 for following and reviewing! This chapter might be a little short, but I have some big things planned for the future! We're going to pick back up from Nightwing's perspective, and see a bit more of the team's dynamic. This chapter was going to be a lot bigger, but I decided to split it into two separate stories. If you have any questions feel free to leave a review! Anyway, here we go!

* * *

Dick couldn't remember how he and Raven got back to the tower. His memory was flooded with softness of her lips, the sweet vanilla taste of her mouth, the feeling of her tongue flicking over his own, and her scent -like wild roses on a summer night- filling every fiber of his senses. He could remember the couch, where they sat through that blissful twilight, just before the rising of the sun. Raven curled in his lap, her delicate arms wrapped around his chest as he combed through her soft velvet hair. Her violet eyes gazed into his for what felt like an eternity.

As the sun began to rise, Raven started to doze in his arms. He lifted her up gently, and carried her to her room. In the darkness of her room, he pushed a pile of clothes off of her bed and to the floor, and laid her down gently, kissing her on the forehead before quietly stepping away. He slid the door open silently, and took one more look at the angel who'd graced him this night.

She peeked one eye at him, and whispered "Don't leave."

He smiled sadly. "It would look bad if I slept here."

She shook her head ever so slightly. "I mean the tower. Stay with us...with me."

Dick felt a warm smile spread across his face, and his heart soared. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

Somehow he made it to his room, and managed to disrobe this time before hitting the pillow with a thump. To think this time twenty four hours ago, he was preparing to negotiate his future with his billionaire father. Now the only future he wanted with certainty was in a city he'd abandoned long ago. Dick tried to find sleep, but his mind still lingered on the stunning woman a few doors down, and when sleep did find him, it was short lived.

Only a few hours after he'd laid down, Nightwing awoke to someone attempting to hammer his door down.

"One second!" He called, trying to piece together his uniform, panicking as he searched wildly for his mask. He found it tucked into a satchel on his utility belt, and jammed it on his face as he opened the door. Beast Boy stood in the hallway, looking as haggard as Dick felt.

"I'm calling a team meeting. I want everyone in the living room in ten minutes." He said grumpily. Before Nightwing could inquire as to why Beast Boy was calling a meeting, let alone even awake this early, the changeling stalked off, banging his fist hard against Raven's door once, before making his way down the hall towards Cyborg's.

Nightwing moved to Raven's door, raising his fist to knock. Before his hand hit the door, it opened, and Raven stood just behind the doorway, looking equal parts irritable, and dazed. She hadn't bothered with her costume, and instead wore short shorts and an oddly familiar T-shirt.

"Is...that my Major Glory T-shirt?" Dick asked, inspecting the shirt, which bore a round red shield, with a silver stripe and red star in the center.

Raven's daze turned to wide eyed shock, and she let out a high pitched "No!" just as the door slammed shut in Nightwing's face. Half a minute later it opened again, this time with Raven in full costume. Just as Dick was beginning to think the previous night had been a dream, she leaned in for a fast, but reassuring kiss on the cheek, before floating past him, towards the kitchen.

Just before the door shut, Dick caught a peek of the pile of clothes he'd pushed aside when he tucked her in. The entire heap was made up of his old shirts. Sighing to himself, he rubbed absentmindedly at his cheek, and followed her down the hallway.

"Beast Boy wants to have a team meeting in the living room." He called after her.

She replied over her shoulder. "His stupid meeting can wait. I need tea and breakfast."

They reached the kitchen to find Cyborg sitting at the table, scarping down scrambled eggs and looking at a monitor on his wrist.

"Mornin'." he said between mouthfuls of egg. "BB called a meeting, but I gotta hit the Comm-Room. A bunch of wires came unplugged last night and some of the monitors overheated...and exploded." He looked pointedly at Raven, who avoided his gaze, choosing instead to focus intently on brewing her tea.

"Team meetings are mandatory Cyborg." Beast Boy said coldly as he walked through the door. "You wouldn't skip out on one of Robin's meetings. So you're damned sure going to listen to mine."

Cyborg gave his friend a strange look as he spooned down the last bite of his breakfast. "Okay BB. Since we're all here why don't you go ahead and start." He said placatingly. Beast Boy took a look around the room, at Nightwing who had taken that moment to open the fridge, and then to Raven who was waiting on two bagels to pop out of the toaster.

"Fine. Listen up, you can eat later." Nightwing shut the fridge, and leaned against the counter. As a team leader he'd always wanted his meetings taken seriously (which seldom happened) and decided to give Beast Boy that same courtesy. He'd shown amazing leadership skills in the mission the previous day, and deserved that respect. Raven turned around as well, though she held two bagels aloft with magic, now and then pulling one to her face for a bite.

Beast Boy chose to ignore her, and began pacing the kitchen. "The first thing on the agenda. No more patrols without the entire team. I sat up thinking last night, and realized that it's incredibly dangerous to send only two members out, when anything could be out there."

Raven looked up from her bagel, and gave one of her trademark sarcastic quips. "We've been doing solo patrols for the past five years. I don't think it's going to hurt to keep them up."

Beast Boy stared daggers at her. "Nightwing said Clock King was working for someone who knew he was back in Jump City. Someone with that level of intelligence is a threat, and his being here puts us in danger." This time he looked coldly at Nightwing. "Before you think about taking off for another half a decade, you're an asset to the team, so we need you here. I thought about transferring you to Team 2, but you know Jump City better than Steel City, so that's a bust."

Nightwing looked at him strangely, trying to understand from a leadership perspective. A transfer made sense, as Nightwing was the most qualified to lead a team. He glanced over at Raven, whose face changed to shock, and then malice.

Cyborg raised his hands defensively "Come on BB, he's only been back for a day. I'm sure he doesn't want to jump right back into being a Team Leader."

Nightwing understood Cyborg's implication, and it made sense. Beast Boy probably thought that he'd want his position as leader back, and the idea of being usurped worried him. He stepped away from the counter, holding a hand out.

"I don't want to be a Team Leader, Beast Boy. I just want to spend some time with my friends, and help you guys in Jump City."

Beast Boy seemed to relax a smidgeon, but muttered something that sounded vaguely like "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of." at a pitch that even Nightwing's mask couldn't pick up. Beast Boy looked over to Cyborg, seemingly avoiding Nightwing's gaze.

"The rule about patrols still stands. With these numbers we cant afford to lose anyone. On to the second part. I don't like not knowing what kind of threat we're facing, and we're few in number right now..."

"I agree" Nightwing interjected "I think we should look at recruiting..."

Beast Boy cut him off "I'm the leader, and I'll decide if we should start recruiting." He paused, looking between them. "I think we should start recruiting." Raven gave him a droll stare. Nightwing shook his head and sighed.

"Anyway." Beast Boy continued. "That'll come later. The point I was getting at...is that the four of us need to be in tip-top shape, so that we can be ready for anything. That means extra training in the Danger Room, and a lot of gym time. Cyborg, Nightwing, you two will hit the gym today, and Raven, you and I will tackle the Danger Room. That way we make the maximum use of our time. If anything pops up we'll meet in the living room as usual."

Nightwing waited for him to continue, but Beast Boy just glanced around, looking for a reaction.

"I don't know how I feel about only two people in the Danger Room. It was designed to test all five of us." Raven stated finally.

Beast Boy smirked. "I think we have a pretty strong bond Rae Rae, we can handle it together." He wiggled his eyebrows at her, and she retorted with a disgusted groan. "Besides" Beast Boy pretended not to notice. "It was designed for all five of us when we were kids. Two of us should be able to handle it now. Anyway that's it. Meeting adjourned or whatever. Let's get to it."

Nightwing's hand went to his stomach. He hadn't gotten to eat anything. Raven must have noticed, because she tossed him a bagel. He caught it perfectly, just noticing the small lipstick kiss on the underside of it. She smiled playfully and floated out of the door, pulling up her hood as she did so.

The four of them packed into the elevator, and Beast Boy hit the buttons for the Gym and the Danger Room. The elevator doors opened first onto the gym, and a catastrophe. The gym door's had somehow melted into globs of steel, and that was the least of the damage. Nightwing took in workout machines that looked like they'd been twisted into deranged pieces of metal junk art. The pool was half empty, with burn marks pock marking the edge. The basketball hoops were bent like pretzels, and the treadmills were shooting off sparks.

"What happened to the Gym!?" Cyborg screamed. He dashed back to the elevator, leaving the other three standing in the wreckage of the gymnasium.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY TOOL BOX?!" Cyborg's voice was audible all the way from the garage on the first floor.

Nightwing noticed Raven's face retreat deeper into her cowl, and Beast Boy just looked around stunned. "Well I guess we'll all be training in the Danger Room today." Dick said.

"Yeah. It looks like Raven wouldn't need even one of us in there." Beast Boy muttered. Raven pretended not to hear, and floated through a black hole. Nightwing and Beast Boy stepped back onto the elevator. Dick could feel the tension radiating from Beast Boy, and the two remained silent for the short ride.

The elevator door opened onto the Danger Room, a round room covered floor to ceiling in the same tiles that made up the sparring arena in the gym. A single computer console stood sentinel in the center of the room. Raven was already there, punching in commands. Nightwing reached into his utility belt for the communicator Cyborg had given him the previous day.

"Cy, Are you coming?" He asked, speaking into the communicator.

"I...I can't...MY TOOLS!" he screamed again. Nightwing could hear him sobbing uncontrollably.

"Okay." He looked to Beast Boy and Raven. "Looks like it's just the three of us." Beast Boy groaned as Raven handed out goggles that had popped out of a shelf in the computer terminal.

"Keep in mind" She said as she placed the goggles around her eyes. "You can't actually hurt yourself here, but you'll still feel it, so don't be reckless."

Nightwing fit his own pair of goggles over his mask just as Raven hit the last command on the console. The entire room morphed into a lush tropical jungle. The air became hot and muggy, and the sound of insects and other small animals could be heard throughout. The team stood in the center of a clearing, encircled by massive trees big enough to fit a school bus inside their massive trunks. Nightwing looked overhead to see strange creatures swinging between their branches.

One of the animals landed in front of them; it was some kind of four armed monkey, with lizard like scales and a long spiked tail. Tusks jutted from it's mouth, and it stared the team down with four glowing eyes.

"Uh Raven." Beast Boy asked, sounding scared. "I don't know what that is."

"That's because it doesn't exist on Earth." Nightwing said. "This room is emulating the tropical jungles of Tamaran."

The creature let out a primal howl, and it's companions leaped from the trees onto the team. Beast Boy morphed into a black rhino, charging at the monkey creatures, and Raven launched orbs of black magic from her hands. Nightwing reached down to the holsters fastened to his legs, and pulled his stun batons from them. The tip of both long black batons started to glow blue, and the faint sound of an electrical charge could be heard from them.

One of the creatures jumped at him and he brought the end of the baton hard against its head. The creature howled and collapsed to the ground, but two more took it's place.

"Remember the goal is to find the computer console and end the simulation! There's no telling how big this jungle is, so we should split up to cover more ground!"

Beast Boy warped back into his humanoid form. "No! We need to stick together in here, we don't know what we're up against!" He changed again, this time into a gorilla to wrestle two of the lizard monkeys at once.

Nightwing sighed inwardly, but wouldn't disobey the team leader. The monsters kept coming one by one, and every time they dispatched one it retreated into the trees to be replaced by another.

"We need to move!" Nightwing said. It wasn't an order so much as a suggestion. Gorilla-Beast Boy nodded and they each shifted to move out of the trees. The lizard monkeys continued to attack them as they made their way through the trees, but without the advantage of attacking in the clearing they were forced to come at the team one at a time. Raven used her powers to throw them into tree trunks as Beast Boy -now in the form of a jaguar- bit and clawed at any who tried to come from behind. Nightwing unleashed bird-a-rangs now and then, but his supply was finite, and he didn't want to waste them.

After what felt like an hour of hit and run tactics they found their way through the trees. The monkey creatures elected not to follow past the line of the forest, but the team faced a cliff edge.

Keeping one eye on the jungle monsters, Nightwing made his way to the very edge of the cliff. There was a two hundred foot gap between them, and another, higher cliff face, and far below a white river raced through the ravine. Raven and Beast Boy came to join him.

"Beast Boy, do you think you can fly up to the top of that cliff face and see what's on the other side?" Beast Boy shifted without a word, becoming a small bird. He flew into the gap and circled several times gaining altitude. Once he reached the opposing cliff he changed back into his humanoid form and called to them.

"The jungle continues up here! Raven, float Nightwing over!" He left the cliff edge, and was out of sight.

"You can't use your grapnel gun?" Raven asked, as she began to gather the energy to levitate the two of them.

"No, there's nothing for it to grip over there." Suddenly the cliff edge started to upheave beneath them, and the ground began to crumble. "Beast Boy!" Nightwing called out, but it was too late. The earth gave way beneath them, and Nightwing and Raven tumbled into the ravine.

"Raven!" Nightwing called, but the wind whipped his voice away. She was falling just above him, her cloak billowing out uncontrollably. She seemed shocked and pained, and Nightwing noticed her ankle twisted at an odd angle. He fished out his grapnel gun, and fired it blindly towards the cliff face, but it ricocheted off of the rock wall, and started to fall helplessly down. Nightwing managed to wrap one arm around Raven, and held tight to the grapnel gun as they fell. By some miracle, the hook managed to catch a tree root poking out from the cliff face, and the two were yanked up a few feet from the river below.

Looking down, Nightwing saw a small shore carved into the rock by the river. Shifting his weight back and forth, he managed to swing himself and Raven to the shore. Just as his feet touched the surface, the tree root gave way, falling into the white rapids, pulling his grapnel gun with it. With Raven braced on his shoulder, he leaned against the the rock wall to inspect her ankle.

"I think it's broken." Nightwing said flatly.

"Yeah. No kidding." Raven said, peering down at her oddly bent ankle.

"Do you think you can fly us back to Beast Boy?" He asked, hoping for the best.

Raven grimaced. "I can't concentrate through the pain."

Nightwing sighed. "It's not actually broken though, it's just virtual."

"That doesn't make it hurt any less!" She shouted at him.

"I'm sorry." He muttered.

"At least we'll get some alone time." Raven said bitterly.

Nightwing unholstered his batons, and fastened them together at the end to form a staff. He ripped a long strip of cloth from Raven's cloak. Then, searching the shore, he found a small, but firm piece of the root that had saved their lives, and using the cloth, fashioned a makeshift splint for her ankle. She winced as he applied it, but didn't complain.

"Here, lean on this." He said, passing her the bo staff. "Just be careful not to accidentally activate it."

She took the staff and leaned heavily against it. "What now?"

Nightwing looked down both ends of the shore. "From the speed of the river, I'd guess that it feeds into a waterfall. We need to be traveling up stream, where hopefully we'll find a way back up the cliff wall. We've probably been in the Danger Room for half an hour, but it will feel like it's been a few hours already. Time isn't the same in here."

Together the two set off, following the river upstream. They walked before what seemed like hours with no end to the ravine in sight. Finally, Raven collapsed from the pain, falling to her knees.

"I have to stop for a little while." Her teeth were gritted in pain. Nightwing spotted a small, shallow cave built into the cliff face, and, scooping Raven up, carried her into it's mouth. Inside he ripped another piece of her cloak off, and using flint and tender in his utility belt, started a small fire. Though the ravine was caught in the shadow of the cliff, Nightwing could tell the sun was beginning to set.

"If you want, I can call the emergency code, and end the simulation." He helped Raven move sit against the cave wall, close to the fire.

Raven shook her head. "That would defeat the point wouldn't it? Besides then I wouldn't get any alone time with you." She smiled through her pain. Nightwing scooped her up, setting her in his lap. She leaned her head softly against his chest, and looked up into his eyes.

Nightwing combed through her hair with his gloved hand. "Beast Boy is a pain, but he really cares about you, you know."

She smiled, nuzzling into his chest, and closing her eyes. "I know that. I care about him too"

Nightwing felt his heart leap into his throat, but thankfully she continued.

"He's like my little brother. He's definitely annoying, but I know he means well, and he's a good kid...I do love him...just not, you know...in that way."

Nightwing smiled mischievously "And what way would that be?"

Raven returned his smile. "Don't play Coy, Boy Wonder." She kissed him long, and passionately. Dick could feel his head start to swim, and somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware that Cyborg might be watching the monitors from outside. Somehow he hard a hard time caring about Cyborg at this moment though.

Feeling exhausted and sore, Dick started to doze off, with Raven wrapped in his arms.

He woke up in pitch black, but felt Raven still in his arms.

"My ankle's healed." She said quietly, kissing his neck. "I guess the Danger Room doesn't want us to be stuck in here forever."

Nightwing grabbed his bo staff where it lay, and unfastened them before they left the cave, and Raven grabbed a hold of Nightwing's waist. "Hold tight." She said.

" **Azarath Metrion Zinthos**!" she lifted them into the air, following the cliff face up, before depositing them at the top. The ground here was sturdier, but the two rushed away from the cliff edge all the same. The jungle trees stood sentinel a few feet away, and Nightwing made his way towards them.

"I think the computer terminal is close." He said as he moved between two massive tree trunks.

"What makes you say that?" Raven followed behind him.

Nightwing looked down at the ground, and toggled his Detective Vision.

"There's something giving off a very faint electrical signature a few clicks that way." He said pointing. They set off through the trees, watching for more of the strange lizard monkeys. Luckily, they went unharassed for the journey. After another few hours, as the sun began to rise, they found their way through the copse of trees, and into a clearing that looked exactly the same as the one they'd first arrived in. In the center of this clearing however, was the computer console, and something much more ominous.

In the clearing, a giant green T-Rex was fighting an equally gargantuan beast, with four massive arms -two of which ended in razor-like mandibles- it's gaping maw full of hundreds of deadly teeth. The T-Rex whipped it's tail around, catching the alien beast on the shoulder, and then slammed it's truck-like head into the creature's stomach. The colossus was lifted off it's feet, and crashed to the ground, just as the T-Rex buried it's iron jaws into the beasts soft stomach.

After one bite, the T-Rex became a short green man, covered in bruises and cuts. "Where the hell have you two been!" Beast Boy roared, looking more fearsome as a boy than he had as the king of dinosaurs.

"We fell into the ravine." Raven stated flatly.

"You couldn't fly out?!" Beast Boy stepped off of the corpse of the huge monster, and stalked over to the computer console.

"No." Nightwing moved forward, pulling the goggles off of his face just as the Danger Room returned to it's original form. "Raven broke her ankle, and we had to find another route."

Beast Boy turned on him, nostrils flaring. "Oh yeah? Did that alternate route involve black lipstick on your neck?! I'm guessing your long way around also meant stealing my girl huh!"

"Why don't you mind your own business Beast _Boy_!" Nightwing shouted back. Beast Boy didn't retort, instead he shifted into a massive silver-backed ape, and charged Nightwing.

The four hundred pound primate stopped just short of Nightwing, who broke into a fighting stance, pulling his stun batons from the holster and igniting them.

"Enough!" Raven roared, using black magic to force the two apart, as well as ripping several tiles out of the floor. She turned on Beast Boy, who was still a giant gorilla.

"I. Am. No. One's. Girl!" Beast Boy balked, returning to his humanoid form.

She turned on Nightwing next. "And you! Why do you have to be such a...such a...Dick!" Her magic struck him in the chest and he was thrown to the floor. Before he could get up, Raven was flying through the half melted Danger Room door.

"Good job." Beast Boy said, sounding defeated as he moved past Nightwing. "You made her mad."

Dick sighed, removing his mask after they left. He wiped sweat from his eyes before replacing it, and made his way to the door, stepping delicately over the smoking steel. He'd have to find a way to make it up to Raven...somehow. The elevator returned, and he stepped in mashing the button for the top floor.

When it opened again, he was face to face with Jinx. "Sup Loser. Nice Hickey." She said giggling as she moved past him to the elevator door. Sighing, Nightwing returned to his room, where he picked up a spare grapnel gun, and replaced his used Bird-a-rangs. He left the room, and made his way back to the elevator. This time, Dick pushed the button for the roof, where he'd gone to think the previous day; where he hoped to find solace again.

On the roof he sat at the edge of the building, looking out onto the ocean. They'd been in the Danger Room for several hours, and the sun was at it's peak. The breeze from the sea was cooling to Nightwing, and he removed his mask again to feel it fully on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Raven asked, from behind him. He turned to see her floating at the doorway to the roof.

"I wanted to help rebuild the team. So that it would be strong enough to face whatever danger might come. I wanted to make the Titan's a contingency in case the Justice League ever failed, and most importantly, to deal with the problems that the League thought were insignificant. So far all I've done is create problems."

Raven moved closer, and shook her cloaked head. "I mean what are you doing here. What are you doing with me...?" She gestured to herself, coming to stand next to him.

Nightwing stood, and looked down to her, their eyes meeting again for the first time since the previous night.

"I...I don't know. I care about you. Last night you..." He sighed, looking away. "I'm not very good at this." He stated.

She grabbed his chin with one hand, and removed her hood with the other. "I...I care about you too Dick. But this team is bigger than us. The Titan's have to come first."

"I know that!" He said, frustrated. "I can't help that Beast Boy doesn't like it! I..."

She cut him off. "This team is the only family I've ever known, and families don't attack each other. I want to be with you." She looked away, searching for the words she needed. "I need to know that we can make this...All of this work."

He sighed, before wrapping his arms around her. " I think that _all of this_ could use a name. Raven...will you...go out with me?

Raven blinked rapidly, and then started to blush. " Yes. I would like that very much."

Nightwing felt a heavy weight lift off of his chest. "We'll have to be on our best behavior until Beast Boy calms down. He cant stay mad forever...I think."

He looked over his shoulder to the ocean. "I think Cyborg knows too. Or at least he will the next time he talks to Jinx."

"Don't feel too bad." She said, rubbing the hickey on his neck, distracting him. "I saw them together when I got up to the living room, and he got it worse than you."

He sighed, before looking at her with a wicked grin. "I guess the cat's out of the bag now."

Dick pulled Raven close, kissing her long and hard as the ocean air breezed their faces.


	7. Chapter 7

Birds of a Feather 7

Author's Note: Special thanks to FatalGrimoire1031 for following my story! I've got some fun stuff planned for this chapter and the next one, I hope you guys like it! We'll be introducing a new character soon that is NOT an OC, but a character BASED off of a character that appears in the comic book. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy all of the sneak attacks in this chapter. Also, and this is important. Don't hate me, but I really like Teen Titan's Go! I think it's really funny, and does a great job parodying the original show. I know it's not for everyone, so I'm not basing any part of my fanfiction off of it. However, there will be a lot of great gags and references to that show, purely for comedic value. None of it is central to the plot, it's just in there to get a few laughs from the peolpe that pick up on it. Also keep an eye out for references from other Warner Brother's shows. Anyway, Let's get going!

* * *

Through the following weeks Nightwing and Raven worked to placate the sullen Beast Boy. They kept their contact and conversation to a minimum while with the team, though they could be seen sitting closer together on the couch, and sharing secret looks in the hallways. Beast Boy for the most part seemed not to notice, though he would send Nightwing alone on every mission he could. In fact, Beast Boy had completely done away with his rule on solo patrols, and sent Nightwing out alone for hours every single night.

Often times, Dick would return to the tower to find everyone asleep; moving to his room he'd find himself suddenly wrapped around by black tendrils, and yanked into a nearby room or hallway. Raven would always be waiting inside, wrapping him in a real embrace, and peppering him with kisses. These sneak attacks were the thing Nightwing looked forward to each night, and the reason he followed each of Beast Boy's orders without question.

Still he had the impression that Beat Boy wouldn't mind if Nightwing didn't make it through these missions and patrols, as he often found himself facing odds that would have been impossible for the other Titans. He'd often return home at night bloody and bruised, and ready to collapse.

One night he found himself facing seventeen armed thugs, and after a haggard fight he found himself with a bullet wound in his shoulder. He limped back into the tower, working his way towards the infirmary. His vision blurred as he laid down on the gurney, and just before he slipped out of conciousness, the door slid open.

When he came to, Nightwing found himself staring up at Raven, who was carefully sewing his shoulder back together with magic. She stared down at his face, worry furrowing her brow.

"Hello Nurse." He crooned. Raven shook her head, a frown etched on her face.

"He's going to get you killed." She said worryingly.

"I've been shot before." He replied, grabbing some anti-septic from a nearby table, and splashing it on the wound. He grimaced as the alcohol in the anti-septic burned.

"It's been two weeks Dick. He's not getting over it." She finished the last stitch, and leaned over to kiss his forehead.

"He will." He replied, sitting up on the gurney. "Eventually, he will. Until then, I'll just have to try not to get shot again."

He stood, and turned towards the door. "I'm kind of bushed. I'm gonna go to bed." She followed him out of the infirmary, and they took the elevator together, embracing one more time before the door opened to the living room. Nightwing walked slightly ahead, reaching for the door to his bedroom. Before he could open it, a black tentacle yanked him back down the hallway. It flipped him around until he was facing Raven again, at the entrance to her bedroom.

"Dick...sleep here tonight..." She stared down at her feet, and he could tell she was blushing.

"Raven..."

She interrupted him. "Just to sleep! What if you slip into a coma or something!"

"If Beast Boy catches us..."

"He wont! He doesn't wake up until noon. You can sneak out before he gets up, he wont even notice." She looked pleadingly into his eyes. "You could have died tonight. I just want you close to me."

He sighed, and stepped into her room. A wave of relief washed over Raven's face, and she moved to her bed to adjust her pillows.

She turned to him. "Are you going to...sleep in that?" She asked, looking over his dirty, blood stained uniform.

"I want to be ready in case there's an emergency." He replied.

She scoffed. "And how long does it take you to put it on if you aren't wearing it."

"Three point seven seconds." He said matter-of-factly. "Okay. I see your point."

He slowly removed his uniform, revealing a tight black shirt, and black cloth pants beneath.

"So what about you." He said, eyeing her black leotard. "Are you wearing that to sleep?"

She blushed deeply. "I don't wear anything under this..." She removed her cloak, gloves, boots, and belt, but kept her leotard. Raven crawled into the bed, pulling black silk sheets up to her shoulders. She looked over to him hopefully, and Dick came over to lay delicately next to her. She grabbed his arm to roll him over, and then rolled herself so that they were spooning. Raven came as close to him as possible, wrapping his arm around her.

Dick laid beside her, feeling her small body pressed against his. Suddenly his mind flooded with her words _'I don't wear anything under this'_ and he became intently aware of every square inch of her soft body.

"Um...Dick...Can you move your arm, it's poking me in the back." She said sleepily.

He blushed, glad that she couldn't see him, and readjusted his legs.

Nightwing awoke just after dawn. He'd rolled onto his back during his restful sleep, and Raven had come to rest her head on his chest, her soft rythymic breathing tickling his chest. He carefully lifted her off of himself, and set her against the pillow. As he made his way out of the room, he collected his uniform, and looked back at her one last time.

"Don't leave." She whispered.

"I have to Rae." She sighed, and rolled over. He made his way to his own room, closing the door quietly behind him. In the twilight of the early dawn, Dick sat down on his bed, looking down at the costume of Nightwing. The blue bird on the chest had been stained by blood that had seeped from his shoulder wound. At some point while he'd been unconcious, Raven had used magic to speed up the healing process, and over night the stitches had dissolved.

The shoulder of the costume however had not been restitched, and in it's current form it was unwearable. Sighing, Dick changed into a pair of blue jeans, and a green T-shirt. While the rest of the tower slept, he made his way to the laundry room. The walls of the laundry room were lined with washing machines and dryers, but Dick made his way to a machine on the far wall.

A large cylinder raised from the machine, and he inserted his suit inside. The cylinder returned to it's base, and a computer terminal on the machine registered the Nightwing Suit. Inside the machine, small mechanical hands worked to stitch and clean the suit. The whole process would take several hours, so Dick made his way out of the laundry room and back to the living room.

The sun was coming up in earnest now, and Dick could feel a rumble in his stomach. The kitchen was empty when he arrived, so he set about making breakfast. What started as a single omelette for himself, soon turned into a large breakfast for the entire team, including pancakes and vegan bacon for Beast Boy. He was halfway through a second stack of pancakes when the door burst open.

"Intruder!" An alarm started blaring, and before Dick could react, two turrets popped out of the roof of the kitchen. They auto targetted him, and started blasting him with purple ooze. The ooze hardened quickly, encasing him inside.

"Titans!" Cyborg shouted. "There's an intruder in the kitchen! He's eatin' all our food!"

"Cyborg...it's me." Dick growled.

"...Nightwing? You're not wearing your mask." He said disblieving.

"Yeah. Sometimes I don't wear it. Go figure." He said irritatingly, trying to break free from the hardened ooze. He managed to break an arm free as Beast Boy burst into the room as a jaguar. He growled loudly and started to stalk forward.

"Chill BB, it's just Nightwing." Cyborg said, moving over to help Dick break out. Beast Boy shifted, looking perplexed.

"Dude. You're not wearing your mask."

Dick broke free from the ooze just in time to see the pancake start to burn. " And? You never wear your uniform." Beast Boy looked down, picking at his batman themed pajamas.

"Yeah, but you're...you." He said.

"I got shot last night. It had to be repaired." He said absently, returning to the stove.

"Oh man. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get shot or anything." Beast Boy said, actually sounding regretful. It was short lived, as his eyes narrowed when Raven floated in, wearing a small blue t-shirt, and Pretty Pegasus short shorts.

"Morning. What's for breakfast?" She said, moving to the stove to grab the tea pot. She gave Dick a quick kiss on the cheek before moving the to sink to wash the pot.

"Really?! Right in front of me?!" Beast Boy cried.

Raven gave him a critical look. "You're just going to have to get over it Garfield." She said, moving back to the stove.

"What are you doing?" Dick whispered to her.

She set the tea pot onto the stove, and turned the burner on to high, before giving him another kiss on the cheek.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Beast Boy cried again.

"No." Raven said to him. "I"m not kidding you. Get over it, or leave."

Beast Boy gave out an exasperated sigh before sitting down at the table. Cyborg went to join him, and Dick set the table with breakfast, and some orange juice and soy milk. He sat down next to Cyborg, across from Beast Boy. Raven came to sit next to him, her cup of tea steaming in her hand.

"Uh...Nightwing, can you pass me the syrup?" Cyborg asked.

"Actually, you can call me Dick or Richard if you want." He said, passing him a decanter of maple syrup.

Beast Boy stifled a laugh before replying. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Calm down Beast Boy. My uniform will be done in an hour, and it'll be back to Nightwing if you want. I just figured I'd give you guys the chance to see the real me."

"Nightwing is the real you! Not some...maskless weirdo in a shirt!" Beast Boy cried.

"Yeah, besides." Cyborg said through a mouthful of pancake "What even brough this on? You never had a problem just being Robin before."

Dick sighed, and reached for a knife and fork. "You guys are my best friends. But Raven made me realize that you don't know anything about me."

"We know you work with Batman." Cyborg replied after a big gulp of orange juice.

"Yeah" Dick said, taking a bite from his omelette. "But that's it. I know everything about you guys. You're real names, where you're from, who your family is..."

He took another bite, and sip of milk before continuing. "For a long time, I've asked you guys to trust me, even though you have no idea who I really am, or where I come from."

"We never had a problem trusting you before." Beast Boy replied between strips of bacon.

"I know." Dick continued. "And for the longest time...because of Batman...I thought that it was the best way to do things. But I'm realizing now that I'm not Batman, and more importantly, I don't want to be him."

He pressed on, before Beast Boy could ask the question he knew was coming. "Batman isn't just my mentor, he's my adopted father, and his real name is Bruce Wayne."

"The guy who paid for the tower?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure it makes a lot of sense now why some random billionaire from Gotham pours so much money into a superhero base built in Jump City. Don't get me wrong, he's a pretty charitable guy, but all of this never would have happened if I hadn't asked him to make it happen eight years ago." Dick finished his omelette, took another sip of milk and continued.

He spent the rest of breakfast telling them all about the secret life of Dick Grayson, like where he'd attended school, when he became Robin, and why he'd decided to leave Batman's side, and create the Teen Titans. Raven listened patiently, even though she'd heard all of this already, and when he'd finished, she grasped his hand underneath the table and gave it a tight squeeze.

"I just have one question." Beast Boy said, eyeing Dick speculatively.

"Okay. Shoot." Dick said, leaning back in his chair.

Beast Boy looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh, and Cyborg gulped the rest of his orange juice.

"How do you get Dick from Richard?" He asked, clearly meaning to poke fun at his team mate.

Dick ignored him, instead winking slyly at Raven. "You ask nicely." He replied.

Raven blushed scarlet and studied the floor, and Cyborg spat orange juice all over the table.

"On that note." Cyborg gasped. "I'm going to go fix the Danger Room."

Raven cleared the table and started washing dishes as Beast Boy stood from the table and, growling low to himself, left for the living room. Normally, Dick would have moved away to train or prepare for the next mission, but instead he followed Beast Boy, and sat down on the couch away from him.

"You can't stay mad at me forever Beast Boy." He said, leaning against the couch. Being here, in normal clothing, felt strangely liberating to Dick; he relished the feeling of the soft couch against is bare arms and ungloved hands.

Beast Boy didn't answer right away, instead he searched for the tv remote, and turned it on. "Maybe not. But I can try. There was a formula you know."

He stopped flipping channels, but didn't seem interested in the program. "You had Starfire, Cyborg had Bee, and I had Raven."

Dick sighed, leaning forward. "I never _had_ Starfire BB. And Cyborg and Bee? Why because they both liked technology? He loves Jinx, and that's okay. As far as you and Raven...It's like she said before. She doesn't belong to anyone. She's free to make her own choices."

"So what, she chose you over me?!" He dropped the remote.

"No, that's not what I'm saying Garfield." Dick let out a long sigh, and rubbed his hand through his spiky black hair. "Raven really does care about you, BB. Just...not like that. You're like her little brother, you know."

"Well maybe I don't want to be her brother! Maybe I wanted something different!" Beast Boy shouted. He stood tall, looking down at Dick on the couch.

"Frankly, it doesn't matter what you want. Like I said. It's her choice." Dick stood too, but remained calm.

"Garfield...I understand why you feel the way you do about Raven. Five years ago I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd chosen you. All I can say, is that she makes me happy. More importantly, she's what drove me to open up to everyone, to see you as friends, and family, instead of just team mates."

He looked down on Beast Boy, gripping the young man's shoulders. " I've lived my whole life, thinking I wasn't allowed to be happy. Every time I thought I found happiness, it was taken from me. I'm asking you, Garfield, not as Robin, or Nightwing. Not as a team mate, or even as a friend. I'm asking you as a _brother._ Please don't take this happiness from me too."

Beast Boy looked up at him, his anger slowly melting away, into sadness, his eyes starting to water. "What about me? What about my happiness?"

Dick sighed again, patting Beast Boy on the back. "If being around Raven makes you happy, I won't ask you to stop. If flirting with her makes you happy, then I won't attack you for it. I'm not asking you to stop being you. I'm just asking you to let me, be me."

Beast Boy gave an exasperated grunt, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "Fine. But I'll tell you this right now, _Dick._ If you slip up, for even ONE second! I will be there, like a cheetah ready to pounce!" At that he shifted into an actual cheetah, and leaped onto the sofa. He circled twice and laid down, before shifting back to his humanoid form, and fishing for the remote.

Beast Boy spent several minutes flipping through channels, grumbling about how 'there can be six hundred channels and nothing on' before settling for old episodes of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer._ A few minutes later, Raven entered the living room, dressed in full uniform, with a book in one hand, and Dick's neatly folded uniform in the other. She set the uniform down on the table, before sitting on the couch, only a fraction of an inch away from Dick.

She folded her legs so that her knees rested on his lap, and propped open her book to start reading. Dick glanced over to Beast Boy to gauge his reaction, but true to his word, the changeling said nothing. Raven glanced up to give Dick a curious look, but he simply smiled back at her, and rested his hand on her knee.

A few minutes later Cyborg emerged from the elevator, covered in grime. "Danger Room is back up, but it's not producing holograms, only the obstacle courses." He said as he took a seat on the couch, between Raven and Beast Boy. He fished underneath the couch cushion, pulling up a bag of potato chips, and started munching.

The four of them sat together, watching tv, now and then sharing a laugh or a joke at some commercial, To Dick it felt like the closest thing he'd ever had to a real family moment. Even Christmas with Bruce was a formal affair, usually a quick exchange of gifts before running off to the Batcave to stop some maniacal serial killer or clown from destroying the city on Christmas Day. Here, in Titan's Tower, sitting with his friends in civilian wear, he felt comfortable...at home.

His relaxation was cut short when the tower's alarm began to ring out. He grabbed his uniform just in time as the coffee table flipped over and started portraying the map of the city. Beast Boy jumped up and peered intently at the map, while Dick donned his uniform over his clothes.

"Looks like we've got trouble. Something big." Nightwing came over to the map, where a huge orange circle was moving through the city followed by at least fifteen smaller red circles.

"A meta-human?" Cyborg asked, joining them. Nightwing pressed the orange circle, zooming in the map on the figure. A hologram appeared just above it, with weight, height, and danger statistics, as well as a small list of past crimes.

"Solomon Grundy." He said, staring down at the huge white zombie-man. Strange, just like Clock King, he usually prowls Gotham. I helped Batman put him away a few years ago. I'm willing to bet he's here for the same reason Clock King was."

Cyborg zoomed the map back out, seeing gold circles flooding the streets. "You and Batman had to team up to take this guy out? How serious is he?"

"He's pretty bad." Nightwing answered. "He's got the strength of twenty men easily, and he can't actually die, which makes him pretty fearless. Well actually he might just be stupid. But, that stupidity might work in our favor. We might be able to reason with him, or at least get some answers from him." He looked to Beast Boy expectantly.

"Oh yeah." Beast Boy said blankly. "Titan's. Go!"

They leaped into action; Raven and Nightwing moving to the elevator alongside Cyborg, as Beast Boy opened one of the great bay windows in the living room, and jumped out, becoming a red-tailed hawk as he did so.

In the garage, Nightwing and Raven quickly equipped helmets, and mounted the R1. Cyborg ran over to the T-Car, and threw off the tarp. Apparently, in his time repairing everything in the Gym and Danger Room, he'd found the resources to repair his precious car.

When they reached the city, the streets were chaotic. Small fires had started in many side shops, and cars were either crunched to bits or flipped over. Police and Rescue teams moved about helping people out of burning buildings, and upside down cars, and fire trucks worked to douse the flames. Nightwing pulled the bike to a stop, grabbing the shoulder of a nearby policemen.

"What's going on here?!" he asked.

The policeman gave him a grim look. "Some giant freak is wrecking everything in sight. He's moving towards downtown. He's stomping our men, so we've ordered a retreat. Your leader spoke with the commissioner, and said you guys were on the way. Better hurry."

The policeman ran off, searching for anyone who might need assistance. Nightwing rammed the throttle on the bike, whipping it around the street toward downtown.

Solomon Grundy was in the town square, drooling all over himself as he tore a lamp post out of the ground, and threw it like a javelin at a nearby window. The thugs were there too, looting shops and setting fire to everything in sight.

"Grundy!" Nightwing roared, leaping off of the R1. The great white zombie turned slowly, and stared him down with empty eyes.

"Solomon Grundy. Born on a Monday." He chanted blankly.

Raven levitated over to Nightwing, her hands glowing with black magic, her eyes white.

"Something's wrong with his mind." She said. "It's like there's nothing there."

Nightwing grunted. "Yeah. Sounds about right. He is a zombie after all."

Some thugs came around, pointing machine guns. They caught a sonic blast in the chest as Cyborg jumped from the driver seat of the T-Car. Beat Boy flew the perimeter, dropping randomly onto thugs to claw at their eyes, or shifting into an elephant to trample them.

That seemed to snap Grundy out of his trance. "Hey! Stop hurting Grundy Friends!"

The colossal man charged Cyborg, knocking him easily off of his feet. Raven started to fire orbs of black magic at the monster, but they bounced off of him like tennis balls.

"My magic isn't having any effect!" She cried.

"Stupid lady! Black Magic no hurt Grundy!" He grabbed the hem of her cloak and threw her hard.

"Raven!" Nightwing cried, leaping into action. He caught her mid air, setting her down on the ground where she recovered a few seconds later.

"Grundy what are you doing here?! Why aren't you in Arkham?!" He called. Grundy turned on him, brandishing another light post he'd ripped from the ground.

"You made Grundy go to Arkham! Masked man came, let Grundy out. Told Grundy go to Jump City! No Batman in Jump City! Little Batman here though. Masked Man said make Little Batman come out! Kill Little Batman!" Solomon Grundy charged Nightwing, swinging the lamp post wildly.

Nightwing pulled out his batons, quickly shifting them into his bo-staff. He managed to bring it up just in time to block the lamp post, but the massive blow jarred his shoulders and he went to one knee. Beast Boy -in the form of an elephant- charged Grundy, who dropped the lamp post and grabbed the beast by the horns. With impossible strength, he threw the elephant into an old oak tree. Beast Boy crumpled against the tree, shifting back into humanoid form just as the tree cracked and fell.

" **Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos**!" Raven lifted the tree just before it crushed Beast Boy, tossing it aside with some difficulty. Cyborg had also recovered, and was facing down several of the armed men. Raven moved to help him, leaving Nightwing with the towering zombie.

"Solomon Grundy! Born on a Monday!" He roared, blocking Nightwing's punch, and lifting him up by the arm.

"Christened on Tuesday!" Grundy absorbed a kick to the chest, but allowed Nightwing to break free. He yanked up a wooden bench, tossing it at Nightwing, who ducked it just in time, but couldn't recover fast enough to stop Grundy from grabbing him in one massive hand.

"Married on Wednesday!" He roared, as he slammed Nightwing into the ground.

"Took ill Thursday!" Grundy aimed a meaty fist at Nightwing, who managed to roll out of the way of the punch.

Nightwing jumped to his feet, pulling two bird-a-rangs from his utility belt.

"Grew worse on Friday." Nightwing said through gritted teeth, as he threw the two bird-a-rangs. Each one smacked Grundy in the face, and the giant reeled backwards. Before he could hit the ground, Nightwing launched his grapnel gun, spearing him in the chest with the hook.

Grundy let out a grunt, as Nightwing pulled hard on the rope, pulling Grundy forward.

"Died on Saturday!" Nightwing roared, as he ran forward. He leaped up, kneeing Grundy in the chin. Following his momentum, he kicked off of Grundy's chest, and vaulted over his colossal shoulders. As he came down, he wrapped his arms around Grundy's neck, and pulled him into a pile-drive.

"Buried on a Sunday. That's the end of Solomon Grundy." He growled, staring down at the unconscious zombie creature.

The other Titan's were rounding up the thugs, with the help of the police, though the city still burned.

Nightwing looked up to the rooftops, and caught a glint of bronze in the haze of smoke. He launched his grapnel up to the roof, where an armored and masked figure had taken off running.

Nightwing sprinted after him, identifying the steel armor, and bronze helmet. _Slade!_

He chased the figure he knew to be Slade across rooftops, leaping after him and slowly gaining. Something seemed off about his old enemy. Something different that he couldn't quite place. Finally Slade leaped through a cloud of smoke pouring from a burning car in the street below. Nightwing followed, jumping blindly. He landed on the adjacent rooftop, but Slade was nowhere in sight.

"Keep running Deathstroke!" He roared. "I will find you! And I will stop you, just like last time!"

He trudged back to the town square, to find Beast Boy speaking to the police commissioner as officers rounded up the dispatched criminals. Four men had metal collars wrapped around Solomon's arms and legs, and a fifth had one around his neck. The five of them held poles attached to the collars, and were herding him into the back of a SWAT van.

Raven broke off from the others, and came over to Nightwing. "Are you okay? He put up a real fight."

Nightwing nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've dealt with him before. Once you start throwing things at him he gets confused. Did we round everyone up?"

She shook her head, looking over to Beast Boy. "We got a lot, but in the chaos a lot of the looters escaped. What's worse, there were others who took advantage of the madness and started looting too."

Nightwing grunted. "What wonderful civilians we protect."

Beast Boy came over to join them. "Nice fighting bro. Where did you go after though?"

Nightwing glanced up at the rooftop. "Grundy said a masked man told him to come to Jump City and try to kill me. After the fight I saw...something on the roof and went to investigate. I saw Slade...or at least someone dressed like Slade take off running. I chased after him but...he got away."

"Hm." Beast Boy replied, scratching his chin. "Well...at least we got Grundy, and only a couple thugs escaped."

"It's not good enough." Nightwing said flatly. "With a stronger team we could have rounded all of them up, and helped with the fires. We need more people Beast Boy."

"Alright." Beast Boy said with a sigh. "I'm the team leader. So I'll...think of something."

Back at the tower, Dick had removed his costume, feeling more comfortable in his shirt and jeans. After the battle he'd taken time to shower. He was ambushed by Raven coming out of the bathroom.

"Darn. I was hoping you'd just be in a towel." She said playfully. He laughed, and pulled her close for a long kiss.

"Thanks for having my back today." She said softly, nuzzling into his shoulder and breathing deeply.

"I've always had your back Rae. And I always will." He whispered into her ear.

"I can't believe I never noticed it before." She said, lost in thought. "All those times you risked your life for me. All those times you went beyond what anyone else would have done."

"You're a member of my team Raven. And my friend." Dick replied.

"No." she said, gazing into his very soul with her deep violet eyes. "It's more than that. I think it always has been, we were just too young or too wrapped up to notice."

"Maybe," he said thoughtfully. "What's important is that we're here now, and I'm not going to let a dead guy get in between us. Grundy or Slade."

She gave him a longing smile, before detaching herself and floating down the hallway. "I'll be in the library if you need anything. I want to see if I can learn more about Solomon Grundy, and what made him the way he is."

Dick pulled a small tablet from his back pocket, removed it's memory card, and pressed it into her palm. "Take this, it has the Bat-Computer's files on Grundy. I was going to look into it, but I've read most of it a few times already."

She smiled at him, stuffing it into a hidden pocket in her leotard. "Does Bruce just add the word Bat to everything?" She asked.

"Yeah." Dick said laughing. "It's kind of scary actually." Raven giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, before giving him one last short kiss, and making her way to the library.

Dick had just settled on the sofa when the tower announced a visitor at the door. Curious, Dick made his way to the elevator, and rode it to the first floor. He moved through the foyer, opening the front door, and letting out a shocked gasp.

"Alfred?!" The old man stood at the door, his hands folded behind his back. He looked just as shocked as Dick felt.

"Master Dick? You're not in costume!" he exclaimed.

Dick waved it off. "It got dirty earlier, I'm washing it now."

"Oh dear." The old butler replied. "One moment Sir." He stepped back, and turned toward the old silver Rolls Royce in the tower driveway. Dick saw him shove a small square of paper into his pocket as the old man popped the trunk of the car. He fished around for a moment, before pulling out a black suitcase, and returning to the door.

"Here you are, Master Dick. Some more costumes I had collected from your apartment in Blüdhaven. I'd meant to give them to the nice young girl who answered the door last time, but didn't know if I should trust them to anyone else."

"Thanks, Alfred. So is that why you came?" He asked, glancing down to the butler's waist coat.

"Ah yes, I'd nearly forgotten." He fished through his pocket before pulling out a small envelope marked with bats. These weren't _the bat_ but some comical things seemingly scribbled onto the envelope.

"Ahem." Alfred cleared his throat. "Master Dick, You are hereby formally invited to the Wayne Charities Masquerade Ball this Hallows Eve. As you know, the event will be held at Wayne Manor at Six PM sharp. Of course you may bring a guest."

Alfred bowed as Dick opened the envelope to reveal an invitation stating exactly what Alfred had just said. "So this is his way of trying to make up huh?" He shoved the invitation into his pocket.

"Please Master Dick, You can't stay angry at Master Bruce forever, he only wants what he's always wanted for you, and that is to provide you with what's best for you."

"Hm. Thanks Alfred. Maybe I will go. But let Bruce know that I'm upgrading my Plus One. He owes me that much."

Alfred gave him a confused look, before bowing slightly. "I"ll be sure to inform him myself. Do be careful, Master Dick. I've heard things have been unsettling here since you arrived." And with that the old man was returning to the Rolls Royce.

In the living room, Raven had joined Beast Boy and Cyborg on the couch, where the coffee table had once again taken the form of a computer screen. She was explaining some of the details found in the Grundy file. Cyborg was nodding, but he had his focus on the communicator in his arm. Jinx's face was peering up at him, and he was talking quietly to her.

Dick tossed the envelope with the invitation down onto the table, and it sliced through the hologram like butter.

"There's going to be a Charity Ball at Wayne Manor in October." He stated flatly.

"That's two months away." Raven said, shutting down the terminal. "Why give you an invitation now?"

"Because Bruce wants to know how many of his Justice League friends to invite." He said, flopping onto the couch.

Beast Boy grabbed the invitation, inspecting it. "Hey it says you can have a Plus One. Guess You'll be taking Raven huh."

"I don't even know if I'll be going B." he replied, leaning his head against the couch.

"Actually, I would like to go." Raven said. "I'll get to meet the famous Bruce Wayne, and Batman at the same time." She gave him a playful smile.

"I have an idea!" Cyborg shouted, looking up from his arm. "You invite Raven as your plus one, and she can invite me as her plus one! Then, I'll invite Jinx as my plus one and..." He paused, looking down at Jinx on his arm's display.

"Ugh. Fine" The pink haired pixie grumbled. "I'll invite stupid Beast Baby." Beast Boy stayed silent, but threw a fist into the air to celebrate.

"That gives me an idea too!" Beast Boy shouted.

"Imagine that, it has a brain." Jinx could be heard from the communicator.

Beast Boy shrugged it off. "Since summer is ending soon, let's have a pool party!" He shouted, jumping up.

Nightwing gave him a disgruntled look, but Beast Boy cut him off before he could complain. "We'll invite everyone who used to be a Titan, and tell them to invite anyone who might want to become one. We can put out invitations and try to recruit some people, and let anyone who wants to come back in with full amnesty!"

Nightwing groaned. "Beast Boy, that's the worst idea since Motorcycle Mondays."

"Okay First of all, " Beast Boy stepped closer to Dick. "Motorcycle Monday's was your idea. Second of all." He leaned in close to whisper in Dick's ear. "We'll both get to see Rae Rae in a bathing suit." He winked slyly.

"Okay. I think it's a great idea." Dick said, looking to Raven. "Beast Boy, I think the entire team should participate." Raven gave him a malicious stare.

"No." She said flatly. "I know what you're trying. And No."

Beast Boy held his arms out. "Come on Mama' you're basically wearing a bathing suit already!"

She threw her cloak around herself tightly to cover up. "The answer. Is. No."

Dick sighed. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. You wear a bathing suit...and I will too. I'll even let you pick it out."

Raven blushed again, moving her face so that her cloak would hide it. "Fine. But I'm not doing it for you, or Beast Boy. It's for the team." She muttered.

"Awesome!" Beast Boy yelled. "I'll go make the invitations!"

"I'm gonna do some grillin'!" Cyborg jumped up, and took another look at his arm. "You're comin' too, right babe?" He left the room, talking to his arm as he went.

"You'd better hope this doesn't backfire." Raven said, rising from the seat. "Or I swear." She floated so that she was just an inch from Dick's ear. "I will find the most ridiculous banana hammock money will buy." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and floated from the room.

 _Great._ Dick thought to himself. He was just becoming comfortable without his uniform on, and now he'd have to face a group of his peers, with the very real possibility that he'd be wearing what amounted to a string and a cup. Not only that, but he'd have to prepare himself mentally for one of Bruce Wayne's famous charity balls, with only a little over a month's notice.

 _First thing's first._ He thought. Slade was alive, and trying to kill him. He grabbed the memory card from it's slot at the base of the table, and turned toward the hallway and his room. As much as Dick wanted to be prepared for the host of social events that had just come into his life, Nightwing had to be prepared to face one of his most deadly foes.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Special thanks to Cowboy Chemist for following. I hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Jinx will be featured in this chapter quite a bit, and she is a ton of fun to write. The comics and tv show don't really give her a big spotlight, which is great because it allows for some creativity and originality when I'm trying to breathe life into her for this story. Anyway let's get this chapter started!

* * *

Raven hovered just above her bed, legs crossed, and arms held out, palms up. Her mind floated somewhere between her body and spirit. She thought of everything, and nothing all at once. Thoughts, feelings, and memories dashed in and out of her brain at light speed, and she simultaneously comprehended all of them, and none of them. The idea of meditation by keeping a blank mind was ludicrous. The truth of meditation was not a blank mind, but a mind capable of processing all things, but attaching itself to nothing. Still, one thing flashed through her meditation more than the others. Her mind lingered on it longer than the others, threatening to hold onto it, and break her meditation. Dick Grayson.

A knock at her bedroom door interrupted her meditation before her own mind could manage the feat. Growling, she dropped to the bed, and then hopped up to answer the door. There were three more loud knocks before she reached the handle, throwing the door open with some force.

"Hey Cake Sniffer." Jinx leaned against the door frame. "We're going shopping. Put some civvies's on."

Raven looked Jinx over. She wore mismatched striped stockings, one purple and black, and the other orange and black. They led up to a short frilled black skirt, and a black ruffled top. Sitting on top of her bubblegum pink hair was a small beret with a tiny witches hat.

"You know Halloween isn't for another two months." Raven said dryly.

"Haha" Jinx mocked. "Come on 'Superhero' we're going undercover today." She turned down the hallway without waiting for Raven.

Raven moved to her dresser, pushing Dick's old shirts out of the way as she did so. She rifled through the drawers, looking for anything other than a leotard and cloak. In the bottom of the last drawer, she found a black sleeveless turtle-neck and some white denim pants. She slid them on and wrapped her uniform belt around her waist. From a small vanity next to the dresser, she grabbed some gold bangles, and earrings. She grabbed a small handbag, and stuffed the rest of her uniform inside, just in case.

Outside the room, Jinx had already made her way to the elevator. "Wow girl, you clean up nice." She crooned. Resisting the urge to levitate, she joined Jinx in the elevator, and pressed the button for the foyer.

"Don't worry." Jinx said, nonchalantly. "Cy will have Nightwing busy all afternoon. No one will even notice we're gone."

A bright pink convertible was parked in front of the tower. Jinx skipped over to it and hopped into the driver's seat. "You comin' or what?" She called as she lowered the top.

"This is a bad idea." Raven muttered as she climbed into the passenger's seat. Jinx drove like a maniac, whipping across the bridge, and into the city before Raven could find the seat belt.

"Um Jinx, I think you're passing the mall." Raven managed, trying not to throw up. Jinx had reached the interstate, but completely avoided the exit for Jump City Mall.

"The mall?! We can't go to the mall! I'll get recognized!" She shouted over the wind. "Besides their selection is gonna suck!" She powered through the highway, moving instead towards Gotham City.

With Jinx's insane driving, they reached the sister city in only an hour. Another twenty minutes, and the pink convertible was parked at Gotham Municipal Mall. Raven was losing her breakfast in a nearby bush, as Jinx skipped happily towards the huge double doors leading to one of the many department stores. Raven regained her compsure and followed her inside. The mall was not particularly crowded, though many people could be found perusing shops or walking the hallways.

Jinx pulled Raven from one store to another, buzzing about like a bee, but never lingering too long on one thing. Finally Jinx stopped outside of a department store offering discounts on end of season swim wear.

"Let's start with bathing suits, since the pool party is coming up first." Jinx said, taking Raven's arm hostage and yanking her inside. They found the rack of bathing suits easily, and Jinx flicked through them impatiently. Raven grabbed the first suit she saw- a black one piece.

"Okay. Let's go." She said flatly, turning to leave. Jinx latched onto her shoulder, and yanked the bathing suit from her hands.

"Uh no. You're not wearing this." She said critically.

"Why not?" Raven asked. "It's my size."

Jinx scoffed loudly. "You'd might as well wear your stupid leotard!" She nearly shouted. A nearby rack of clothing suddenly fell onto an elderly lady, and Jinx tried to hide a faint blush.

"Good idea." Raven said, turning to leave again. Jinx grabbed her again, and pulled her back around.

"First of all, no it's not a good idea. It's a terrible idea. Second, this is NOT flattering at all. And third, because I know you're going to ask, you WANT to look sexy for your stupid cake sniffing boyfriend. Don't even try to pretend like you don't. That's the whole reason you agreed to the pool party, and the halloween party."

Jinx threw the black one piece to the floor. "Now let's find you something so sexy he'll be swimming with a rudder." She said, waving her hand between her legs and giggling.

They spent a few more minutes trying to find a bathing suit, before Jinx gave up in frustration (whereby some of the discount clothes caught fire) and decided to move to another store. After three more department stores, and a sporting goods store, Jinx seemed to find what she was looking for.

They'd found their way into a novelty store called Spinners, which sold everything from wallets to strobe lights, and luckily, bathing suits. Raven examined her cuticles for the thousandth time while Jinx surveyed the wares. She was at it for less than a minute before she shrieked with excitement, causing one of the nearby fog machines set up for display to billow clouds of smoke.

"This is the one." She stated finally, handing Raven a two piece bikini. The top featured a black and white striped design on the left breast, and a purple cartoon skull on the right. The bottoms were frilled, with black and white stripes, as well as another large purple skull on the butt.

"Oh no." Raven held it out at arms length, trying to put distance between herself and the garment. "It's way too revealing." She said, trying to hand it back to Jinx, who hopped back just out of reach.

"Just try it on." She insisted, pointing to the dressing room.

Raven sighed, and decided to indulge the petite girl. The faster Jinx got what she wanted, the faster Raven could be at home, enjoying a nice book and a cup of tea. _With Dick..._

She undressed from her top and jeans, and then slipped into the bikini. The mirror was behind her, but Raven could feel the way the bikini hugged her body, simultaneously covering, and showcasing all of her curves. It fit like a glove, and as she turned to see the bikini in the mirror, she knew she was sold.

"Well, let's see it!" Jinx called. She stood on the other side of the door, and when Raven opened it, Jinx's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Oh yeah. That'll get Nighty's blood pumping." Jinx whistled, and Raven slammed the door in her face.

"Okay. We can get this one." She called, quickly dressing into her own clothes.

She could hear Jinx jump for joy on the other side of the door, just as the mirror shattered. When she opened the door, Jinx waved her over to the counter, where she was paying for her own bikini -a two piece practically amounted to two strips of pink and black cloth. From her hand bag Jinx grabbed a small black credit card with a gold T emblazoned on the front. Each Titan had a card which contained a monthly stipend for food, clothing, and other necessities; all provided by Wayne Enterprises of course. Jinx paid for both bathing suits with her own card, and led them out of the store.

"I don't know about you Rae, but I'm starving." She called, pulling Raven toward the food court. They picked a nice sandwich shop, and ordered two sandwiches and fruit smoothies. Raven paid for lunch, while Jinx excused herself to the restroom. Just as she left, one of the blenders exploded, blowing fruit puree all over one of the employees. Raven found a small table for two tucked into the corner of the food court, away from the building crowd.

When Jinx returned they sat together and ate in silence. Jinx had finished her sandwich, and sipped absently on her smoothie, staring toward the sandwich shop where the unfortunate employee was still mopping up fruit juice.

"Mhmm." Raven cleared her throat, and Jinx's attention snapped to her. Her eyes were wide, and a deep frown stretched across her face.

"So." Raven said, breaking the silence. "How is your mission going?"

Jinx wiped her hands on her skirt, and combed a loose lock of pink hair out of her face. "Not bad. I'm not supposed to talk about it, but I guess since your boyfriend is the one that set it up, it's okay."

Jinx looked around warily before continuing. "A lot of Jump City's villains are on the fence about the whole thing. Mammoth has considered joining a couple times, but the thing with Gizmo pushed him away. I think he's on to what I've been doing...you know, trying to recruit people who might not be all that bad...People who were just down on their luck, like me."

She gave a short nervous laugh and took another sip of her drink. "Other than that, I've managed to keep tabs on a bunch of pretty dangerous guys, and get that info back to Cy so you guys can go in and shut them down. The bad news is I'm on the criminal watch list for Gotham, and Jump City again. It totally wasn't my fault this time, cop cars burst into flames all the time, especially when they run into light poles."

Her frown returned, and Raven hastened to change the subject. "So have you heard anything on the possibility of Slade's return? Nightwing thinks he's back in town."

Jinx pondered for a moment before answering. "I've heard some mixed reports. A lot of people are saying he's back, but other's are saying it isn't really him. The consensus is that some lunatic in a mask." She laughed again and muttered "A mask, go figure." Before continuing. "Some lunatic in a mask is running around pretending to be Slade, but some of the low-lifes are looking to pick up jobs for him, so there has to be some legitimacy to the claim."

Raven thought on that for a moment. Slade, or someone who looked like Slade, had returned to Jump City. Not only that, but they were looking to recruit. She had no doubt now that this was the same person who'd set up the Clock King heist, and also unleashed Grundy on Jump City.

"Well we're not getting answers in Gotham, I say we head home." Raven said, standing from the table.

"What's your hurry, pot holder?" Jinx grabbed her wrist. "We still need to find dresses for Fancy Pants Wayne's dance. What, you expect me to go in this?" She asked, gesturing towards her outfit.

"Well it would fit a Halloween party." Raven muttered, but consented to continue shopping. Hours had passed before Jinx found a department store worthy of their time. Lupen's Bridal was stocked to the rafters with dresses of all shapes and sizes, ranging from prom dresses, to wedding dresses, and even dance wear.

Raven chose a beautiful black and white dress. The bodice was covered in long black feathers, and white swan feathers wrapped around the skirt. The masquerade mask accompanying it was in the shape of a raven's beak, with more black feathers cascading from it's sides.

Jinx chose a tight mauve satin dress that flared out at her knees. Her mask was just a strip of black lace, which she coordinated with matching gloves. She found a pair of black high heels to match the ensemble, and another pair for Raven.

At the counter, Jinx once again paid for both dresses. Just as they were leaving, the registers went haywire, the cash drawers popped open, and the makeup counter melted into a fine goo. The two women hurried quickly out of the store, with employees and customers alike scrambling around them to make sense of the strange debacle.

They hurriedly made their back to the entrance they came through, but Jinx pulled short just before the door.

"Wait!" She cried. "I forgot the most important part." Jinx dragged Raven by the arm back through the mall, until they were staring down the entrance of the one store Raven never wanted to see.

"No." She stated flatly.

"It's super important!" Jinx protested.

"No it's not. It doesn't matter at all, because that's not happening." Raven folded her arms defiantly across her chest.

"It might!" Jinx cried. "You have to be prepared!"

"I'm never going in there." Raven glared at the store's sign.

"Quoth the Raven." Jinx said sarcastically. "Come on, we're going in. I'd say it's more important to wear something nice under the dress. You'll thank me for it later."

Before she could protest again, Jinx grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into Elizabeth's Undisclosed, a store absolutely overflowing with lingerie.

Raven tried her best not to blush at every piece of fabric in the store, but she could feel the heat creeping up her neck and flooding her cheeks. Jinx grinned wickedly as she grabbed several items from the rack, ignoring the saleswoman, and pulled Raven into the dressing room. She spent the next several minute's undressing the uncooperative Raven, and then forcing tiny bits of fabric onto her body.

Despite her misgivings, many of the pieces felt very comfortable on Raven, and after a few swaps, she allowed Jinx to more easily fit things onto her naked body. After trying on what had to have been every bit of lace and satin in the store, Jinx finally forced one last piece of lingerie onto Raven.

"This is the one." She said, holding up a black satin bra. The bra buckled in the front -'for easy access' it advertised- lifted Raven's breasts, and the satin cloth just barely covered her nipples. The second piece of the outfit was a satin thong, so small that Raven would not even have considered bothering to wear panties if it had been the last thing in her dresser drawer.

"I'm not wearing that Jinx." She said flatly.

"Yes you are. It will drive Nightwing wild." She said matter-of-factly.

"No I'm not! For God's sake, it has a bow on the ass!" Raven struggled to keep her voice down.

"Exactly!" Jinx cried. "It will be like his little present that he gets to unwrap!"

"He's not unwrapping anything!" Raven cried. Still, the mere whisper of the thought of Dick seeing her in this made a shiver run down her spine. Her imagination raced through a hundred different scenarios before she managed to gain control of it.

"You will wear this to the ball Raven. Or so help me..." Jinx leaned in so that she was so close to Raven's face, she could smell the banana and peanut butter smoothie she'd had with her lunch. "You will have so much bad luck in your love life that you'll wish you'd never crawled out from under that cloak."

"Fine!" Raven snapped, though secretly her mind had been made up before the threat was issued.

Smiling triumphantly, Jinx sauntered out of the dressing room while Raven redressed. At the counter, Jinx was once again paying for their purchases. She grabbed the bag and waved Raven towards the door, presumably before any bad luck could befall the shop.

Jinx crossed the threshold, and the store alarm started blaring.

"Wait!" The cashier cried.

Jinx looked to Raven, fear in her eyes. "Run." She said suddenly. "Run!" Jinx took off through the mall, a security guard rounding the corner to chase after her. The cashier dashed over to Raven, who still stood at the doorway, shocked.

"I forgot to remove the security clips." The cashier said breathlessly. Raven dashed out of the store after her friend. She caught up to Jinx, who was launching bright pink blasts of voodoo energy from her hands at several security guards.

"Jinx! Wait!" Raven cried, catching up to her friend. "It's okay, it's just a misunderstanding. The cashier forgot to remove the security clips, we can just go back to the store and explain!"

"Are you insane?!" Jinx cried, her eyes full of fear. "I told you earlier, I'm on the criminal watch list here. If I go back they'll think I stole them on purpose, and I'll end up in jail, or worse, Arkham. This is Gotham Rae, the big leagues! They lock up crazy's like us for a long time!"

Raven shook her head. "Bruce Wayne lives in Gotham, Jinx! He'll vouch for you, I promise!"

Jinx looked at her incredulously. "Are you kidding me?! Some billionaire playboy doesn't care about what two vigilante's who spends all of his money on clothes! I'm not going to live in a loony bin just because Nightwing wanted me to go rogue!"

Jinx ran for the mall exit, and before Raven could catch up, had hopped into her hot pink convertible. She fired up the engine, but waited as Raven, with -with no other choice- jumped into the passenger's seat. She stowed the bags in the back seat as Jinx punched the throttle.

Within minutes Gotham City Police cars were hot on their trail. Jinx made a sharp turn, so that the setting sun was glaring into their vision.

"Watch this." Jinx said confidently, as the roof of the convertible slid into place. The windshield polarized, blocking out the bright rays of the sun just in time for Jinx to swerve and dodge a fire hydrant.

"Cyborg has been working on my car, says it makes him feel better knowing I'm safe." She smiled warmly for half a second, before grimacing as one of the police cars hit the fire hydrant, launching a steady stream of water ten feet into the air.

"Jinx, we've got a problem!" Raven cried, peering over their shoulder. The cop cars had diminished to only two, but a massive black vehicle that could only be the Batmobile roared behind them.

"Jinx I need your communicator! I need to call Di...Nightwing right now!" Raven called, fear rising into her voice.

"Can't!" Jinx yelled, equally terrified. "I don't carry it in the car, you know, 'cuz I'm undercover. Hold this." She said, taking her hands off of the wheel. Raven grabbed it quickly to keep the car straight, as Jinx leaned halfway out of the window. A window AC from an overhead building suddenly came dislodged, falling towards the Batmobile. Batman nimbly dodged the falling debris, but couldn't swerve in time to avoid the police car that had come around to pinch the convertible in. The two vehicles collided, and while the Batmobile took little damage, it was at least momentarily stuck in place.

Jinx gave a whoop of joy, which became a terrified shriek just as her precious car rolled over a spike trap, blowing out the tires. The car screeched to a halt as Jinx applied the brake, swerving slightly before crashing into a glass storefront.

"Just my luck!" Jinx cried from the driver's seat. "Let's go!" She hopped out of the car door, and with a back hand spring and a somersault, hit a the second story fire escape of the store front. Raven followed after her, hovering up to meet her.

"Jinx, we should turn ourselves in. If we keep running it get's worse. I know you're scared, but I'm a Titan, I know I can get us out of this."

Jinx rounded on her. "The problem isn't that I'm afraid I can't get out of this, you idiot. If I had to I can prove I'm a Titan too! The problem is, if I turn myself in and get away with nothing, then my cover, and five years of work will be ruined! Right now the criminals of Jump City think I'm one of them. It's bad enough that I've been running through the mall with you all day. Why do you think I told you to wear regular clothes you imbecile?!"

Tears were starting to form in Jinx's eyes, and Raven could see that she was being earnest. Jinx was a playful spirit, but she took her job, and her assignments very seriously. When Robin asked her to become a double agent for the Teen Titan's, she'd accepted the job knowing that it would be dangerous, but Jinx made it known that she believed she was the only Titan who could do it.

Raven grabbed onto her wrist, and the two flew up to the top of the three story building, just as police were beginning to climb the fire escape. At the top of the building they jumped to the neighboring rooftop. Raven wasn't sure where they were going, but the goal for the moment was to get away from the police. Luckily Jinx had a plan.

"I have a safe-house we can lay low in for the night." She called to Raven after a somersault to the next roof over. "We just need to make it to the Burnley district before full nightfall."

"Why full nightfall?" Raven asked, following behind Jinx.

"Because Popsicle brain, at night Batman will find us. You can bet he'll be mad about us wrecking his car."

Jinx kept moving, Raven following closely behind. The sun had finally set when Jinx slowed, and came to a stop.

"It's just on the next block. All we need is to..."

"Stop! Put your hands up!" A mega-phone blared overhead, as a helicopter carrying a spotlight singled the two girls out.

"Gotham City Police! You've been identified as dangerous meta-humans, and if you do not comply, we will open fire!" Several police cruisers rounded the corner.

"Jinx." Raven started calmly. "I am your hostage. If I didn't follow you, then you would have destroyed Titan's Tower, and murdered Beast Boy."

Jinx nodded, understanding. She wiped her wrist across her eyes, and hardened her face.

"Alright, coppers! You got me, the infamous Jinx!" She roared. "I'll set my hostage free now so ya don't try to kill me!"

"Nice try." An older man wearing a brown overcoat had suddenly appeared behind the two girls. Raven felt the cold hard metal of hand-cuffs as they were slapped onto her wrist.

" Commissioner James Gordon, GCPD. Looking at you two, I don't buy the hostage story. You're both coming downtown until we get this sorted out.

After two hours of questioning by several different police officers -including the commissioner- Jinx and Raven were thrown into a specialized jail cell built by Wayne Enterprises to inhibit meta-human activity. Jinx paced the cell nervously, obviously affected by the technology. Raven on the other hand, could never truly be inhibited in her ability to use magic, and spent her time meditating calmly.

After what seemed like another two hours, the cell was unlocked by a policeman.

"Girls, your bail has been posted." He said flatly, leading them out of the cell and into a separate room.

"Who posted our bail?" Raven asked curiously, though she felt she knew the answer.

"I did." Came an unfamiliar voice. She turned, to see a tall, broad shouldered man with short dark hair, who appeared to be in his mid forties. He was extremely well built, but even in his tailored Armani suit, he moved like liquid.

"Hello girls, my name is Bruce Wayne." He said genially, holding his hand out to Raven, who shook it, and then to Jinx who hesitantly followed suit.

"As you may know, Miss Raven, I presume?" He didn't wait for Raven to confirm her name. "I paid for the construction of the original Titan's Tower, as well as the other towers, and my corporation funds the upkeep for your team."

As if on cue, Dick, in full Nightwing costume, as well as Beast Boy and Cyborg stepped into the hallway.

"Ah, they're here now. Good." Bruce Wayne said. Nightwing glared at the two girls. To Raven he seemed angry, and yet also afraid.

"I was just speaking with Nightwing here about the unfortunate incident at the mall today, and we were coming to a decision on what to do about it." He looked to Nightwing with a large smile on his face. Raven was having a hard time connecting the Bruce Wayne in front of her with the stories she'd heard from Dick.

"Mr. Ah...Wayne..." Dick seemed to struggle with the formality of his adopted father's name. "Has convinced the mall to not press any charges. He's also used his influence to have the Police strike the record for you Jinx, so that it won't impede your mission." Nightwing kept his voice steady, trying to mask his emotions.

"As far as Gotham knows, ladies, two unidentified suspects the police through a chase, before crashing into a building. I've elected to have the storefront windows repaired, and your car is currently in the process of being towed back to your tower in Jump City, where Mr. Victor may repair it."

Cyborg spoke up next. "I'm really looking forward to it, now that I've got the T-Car running again.

Bruce Wayne grabbed a handful of bags from a nearby counter, that Raven hadn't noticed previously. They were the shopping bags she'd left in the backseat of the car in their haste to flee the police.

"Oh and ladies, the police found these in your car. I'm assuming that they were what all of the fuss was about. Forgive me for prying..." Raven blushed scarlet. "But I noticed you bought ball gowns." He lifted Jinx's gown out of the bag, running the satin through his fingers.

"I'm actually holding the annual Wayne Charities Masquerade ball at my manor this Halloween, and it would be a shame if these two beautiful dresses didn't grace my ballroom. I invited my adopted son Richard and his friends to the party..." At that he looked knowingly to Nightwing, who was working to avoid his gaze.

"...But I don't think he'll be able to make it. I'd love to host the Teen Titans, in his absence."

Bruce looked expectantly to Nightwing. " That decision is up to the Team Leader." He said, shoving Beast Boy forward.

Beast boy seemed stunned for a moment but finally managed a meek "Um sure...We'll go."

Bruce Wayne smiled genially and turned to the police commissioner who'd up to now been silent.

"Well Commissioner, if there is nothing else, I'd like for these young men and women to return to Jump City where they may be needed."

"Yes sir, Mr. Wayne. Now that we have an understanding of what's going on, I think it's a good idea to let these young men and women get back to what they do best. And that's being on the right side of the law." He glared at Jinx for a moment, before moving out of the hallway.

"Great!" Bruce Wayne exclaimed. "Well then, if everything is settled, I think we should go...before they change their minds of course." He gave a hearty laugh.

"And remember, if you need anything, just let me know." He turned to stare Dick down, who still refused to meet his gaze. "I only want what's best for you, after all."


	9. Chapter 9

Birds of a Feather 9

Author's Note: Okay so my first bit of business: Sorry for infrequent updates, I'm working a lot these past couple of weeks so I may get out a chapter once a week, but I'm pushing for more! Followup :So I'm sure some of you are wondering "What about Young Justice?" Well the truth is it was just impossible to fit both of these universes into a cohesive timeline, as Young Justice would need to take place both before, during, and after Teen Titans. Since this is primarily a Teen Titan's fanfiction I will be sticking to that universe. HOWEVER! In this next chapter (And potential future chapters) there will be some appearances from Young Justice characters, and some plot related elements will be carried over from that show. Furthermore, the rating has changed to M, and there will be some Citrus-y stuff going on (my beta says that's what it's called) so if you don't like it let me know via comment and I can either edit it, or keep it out of future chapters. If you DO like it, let me know and I'll write more of it. Anyway, now that our summer is winding down, let's all have one last pool party!

* * *

Dick Grayson shuffled through his dresser drawers, searching for the only pair of swimming trunks he owned. Because of their romp through the city, Raven had forgotten to buy him any swimwear. Luckily, Alfred had the wisdom to pack a pair in the suitcase he'd dropped off. At the time, Dick thought nothing of it and had tossed them unceremoniously into the dresser. Now, as he rifled through each drawer, Dick wished he'd been more attentive to his unpacking.

He finally found the black swimming trunks in the bottom drawer, and grabbed a tight blue shirt, and the same sunglasses he'd worn in Japan six years ago. He'd debated on wearing his Nightwing uniform, but several thoughts had run through his mind. Firstly, Beast Boy's idea to hold a pool party to recruit had been secretly genius. The Titan's were essentially the antithesis of the Justice League. Whereas the League had been built on the idea of creating a governing body for meta humans, the Titan's were a team, no, a family, built on the idea of protecting the people on a city by city level.

To Dick, the Justice League was political. It was a government run by Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawk Girl; the big six. Under their guidance, the members of the Justice League worked together to protect the planet and it's people. Or at least that was the idea. In truth, the Justice League was more of a Superman police force, and while they did work to protect the planet, more often than not, their protection involved taking down forces from beyond the solar system, and often-times entirely different galaxies. The Justice League had grown adept at jumping into their Javelin ships and speeding off to some distant planet, while people on Earth were being mugged and murdered on the streets.

When he'd created the Teen Titans, his goal had been to plant a T-Tower in every major city, on every continent. Five years ago, they'd come close to meeting that goal, but sadly in his haste to escape, Nightwing had left the role of leadership in the hands of someone who hadn't been capable of holding the many teams together. Now, the team was in Beast Boy's hands, and while he was never someone that called to mind an image of intelligence or wit, he seemed to have a knack for making decisions to benefit the team.

During the drive to Gotham to rescue the girls from their imprisonment, Beast Boy and Nightwing had spoken in detail about the recruitment process for any potential recruits, as well as the idea behind hosting a pool party. Surprisingly, Beast Boy had planned the party to create a more relaxed environment, so that no one would feel pressured into joining.

On the other hand, while the Justice League and Superman weren't forcing meta-humans to join them, their methods of 'convincing' their recruits to join were becoming more forceful. Those who came today would be presented with two options: Join the Titan's of their own free will, or choose not to, and face the threat of eventually being assimilated into the Justice League, and becoming a puppet of the Big Six.

Dick made his way through the tower, and down to the foyer. Beast Boy and Raven were waiting at the door. Beast Boy wore purple swim trunks and a pair of huge blue goggles. Raven floated a foot off of the ground, and -to Dick's disappointment- had a beach towel wrapped around her like one of her cloaks.

"You guys ready for this?" Beast Boy asked, reaching for the door handle.

Nightwing took a deep breath. "Just remember. We're doing this for a reason.

Beast Boy glanced over to Raven who was glowering from beneath her towel cowl.

" Oh I haven't forgotten our reasons." He said mischievously. Raven slugged him hard in the arm, and forced the door open with magic, floating through the threshold.

The two boys followed her into the driveway, and around the building to the courtyard, which housed an outdoor pool, a patio, and a tennis court.

Cyborg was busily setting up for the party on the patio, setting up tables and chairs, filling a drink cooler, and positioning heavy speakers throughout the patio. He'd already set up a DJ booth and grill, and wore a white apron with 'Kiss the DJ' over his robotic chest, and a chef's hat tilted to the side like a french baker.

"Hey guys, just about done setting up. Rae if you wanna help me blow up these pool floats that'd be great. People should start arriving soon, so B, Night, you two should hit the gate." He set down another massive speaker, and pointed Raven to a shed close to the pool.

Nightwing and Beast Boy moved to the end of the driveway to stand sentinel by the open wrought iron gates. They waited for what felt like an hour, with no sign of guests.

"No one is coming." Nightwing said finally. "Did you send the invitations out?"

"Yeah, of course I did." Beast Boy stated, squinting into the distance.

"Did you put the right address?" Dick pressed.

"I'm sure it's going to be really hard to find the giant T shaped tower." Beast Boy replied sarcastically.

Nightwing turned to glare at him, only to suddenly find his sunglasses on upside down. He righted them just in time to see a blur move between them, and Beast Boy's trunks dropped to his knees.

"Hey!" Beast Boy called, pulling them up.

"Hey yourself!" The wind called back.

"Don't you dare." Nightwing replied, seeing the blur again. It zoomed past him again, but this time Nightwing stuck his foot out at the last possible millisecond. The blur slid several feet, before coming to a halt several yards down the path. In less than a second it was back up, and Kid Flash was standing in front of them.

"That's not very nice you know. At that speed I could have tripped into another dimension or something." He said smiling.

"Nice to see you're still up to your old tricks Wally." Nightwing replied, returning the smile.

"Thanks, and you can call me Wallace if you want..." Nightwing stared him down. "Kidding!" He said defensively.

"That does raise the question." Beast Boy walked over to their old comrade. "Are you still going by Kid Flash? I mean You're in your twenties now, but there's still a regular Flash. How does that work?"

"I don't know, you still go by Beast Boy, don't you?" He replied, laughingly. "I don't know I was thinking of changing it to something like Speed Devil...or...Impulse, or something. I guess you can still call me KF though."

Nightwing nodded. "Well, if you're here for the party, you're our first guest. Cyborg and Raven are still setting up. We have bathrooms in the foyer if you want to change out of your uniform."

Kid Flash laughed heartily. "Thanks Mister host. I'll keep that in mind. I guess I'll see you dweebs later." and before Dick could blink, Wally West had sped past them.

Not long after, more guests started to arrive. The colossal Mammoth, trailed behind the tiny pink haired Jinx, moving unsurely down the pathway. She skipped ahead of him, stopping now and then to encourage him forward.

"Hey losers!" Jinx came skipping by, Mammoth shuffled forward, keeping his head down.

"Mammoth, I see you're out of prison early." Dick said cautiously.

"Got out for good behavior...Dick." He growled.

Dick tried to cover the shock on his face, but he pulled Jinx aside and whispered into his ear. "You didn't tell him my real name..." He whispered.

"No." She said plainly. "I think he's just insulting you." She grabbed Mammoth's arm, and pulled him past the gate.

Next the -still active- members of Team Two arrived via their own T-Ship. Argent, Red Star, Gnarrk, Kole, and Mas y Menos stepped out from the ship, which flew on auto pilot to the landing pad on the roof.

"Team Alpha Death Strike, reporting to the pool party!" Kole stood at attention, snapping a salute to Beast Boy.

"Uh...Team Alpha Death Strike?" Nightwing asked, confused.

Beast Boy grinned sheepishly. " When we reordered the teams we voted to see if anyone wanted new team names. First it got really confusing trying to do the whole 'Titan's East' 'Titan's West' thing, because, I mean, that's kind of a matter of perception.

"Okay. I'm following you...right up to Alpha Death Strike." Nightwing replied.

Kole hopped in front of him. "Beast Boy let us choose new names. I picked Alpha Death Strike, Gnarrk agreed with me, and Mas y Menos...well they don't speak English, so we assumed they also agreed with me." The bubbly little girl skipped through the gate, with her team following closely behind.

Dick turned to Beast Boy. "You made Kole the team leader?" He asked, grimacing.

"Well, actually I made Gnarrk the team leader." He replied.

Dick's palm involuntarily smacked his forehead.

Soon after Team Two, the remaining three members of Team Three arrived by truck. Pantha, Wildabeast, and Hotspot popped his head out of the drivers side window.

"Hotspot. Didn't expect you to be the pool party type." Beast Boy said, waving them through the gate.

"Cyborg said if I came, I could grill up some Moroccan food." He smiled, and drove past them towards the round driveway in front of the tower.

Beast Boy turned to Dick, smiling. "Not a bad turn out."

Before Nightwing could reply, an alien craft emerged from the ocean, not far from the small road connecting the tower to the mainland. Soon after, young Atlantean wearing a skin tight red shirt and black leggings leaped from the water like a dolphin, rolling to his feet onto the road.

"Kaldur." Dick greeted him plainly.

"Robin." He replied. "I've heard you are going by Nightwing now."

"You heard correctly." Dick answered back.

"I was invited to a party for former members of the Teen Titans." Aqualad said it as a statement, more than a question.

"You were. Feel free to come in. The pool is salt, not chlorine, so make yourself at home."

Aqualad nodded, and walked past them.

"Dude, what's your beef with that guy?" Beast Boy asked, after Aqualad was out of earshot.

Nightwing was going to respond, but his head snapped toward the roadway as a black motorcycle came hurtling towards them. It stopped just in front of the gate. The rider was a young woman who wore a green jacket, with a compound bow and quiver slung over her back. She had blond hair and wore a green mask.

"Sup." She said casually. Nightwing glanced over to Beast Boy, who'd become a howling coyote.

"Uh...sup." Beast Boy replied coolly in his humanoid form, leaning against the gate.

"And you are?" Nightwing asked.

"Name's Artemis." The blond woman replied. "I worked with Green Arrow for awhile, but I heard you guys were setting up a team that wasn't as pushy as the Justice League. Figured I'd check it out."

"Well, Artemis. You're welcome to join us." Nightwing said. "Just follow the path to the driveway, the party is in the courtyard."

She nodded, and pushed the motorcycle down the driveway.

"I think we can join the party now." Nightwing said, turning to the tower.

"Not yet. What's that?" Beast Boy asked, pointing to a distant speck in the sky.

Nightwing looked up in time to see the ship flying closer. "That's a Javelin long-ship the Justice League use..." As he finished the Javelin was coming to a hovering stop just above the roadway. A green woman, stepped out, followed by a hulking young man in a black shirt.

"Superman?!" Nightwing called. The figure stepped closer. It was definitely Clark Kent, though he looked much younger than Nightwing remembered.

"Not quite." He answered. Beast Boy meanwhile was jumping up and down with excitement.

"M'gann!" He called out, running to hug the young woman. She returned the hug, and the three of them walked forward until they were a foot from Nightwing.

"Nightwing, I'd like you to meet M'gann, otherwise known as Miss Martian! She's the reason I'm me dude!" He hugged her again, and she patted his head affectionately.

"It's true." She said, looking to him. "I gave Garfield a blood transfusion, and he got some of my Martian powers."

This wasn't new to Dick. The Batcomputer, and his own dossiers had extensive background history on not only the Titan's, but almost every other meta-human as well. This younger Superman was new to him though. Luckily the behemoth young man answered the question before Nightwing could ask.

"I'm Connor. Some people call me Superboy." He said flatly.

"Any relation to the Superman?" Dick asked suspiciously.

"No. I mean yes." The young man sounded confused. Miss Martian covered for him.

"He was made from Superman's DNA, but they're not the same. That's why we're here." She said, turning to Nightwing.

" I heard the Titan's were the opposite of the Justice League." He said, eyeing Dick.

"Not quite." Beast Boy responded, stepping back from Miss Martian. " I mean the League of Super Villains is the Anti-Justice League...but we're like...the friendlier Justice League."

"Will you lock me in a space station and force me into genetic and physical testing to see just how like Superman I am?" Connor asked, without a hint of sarcasm.

"Um...No." Beast Boy replied.

"Then I'm in."

"Me too." M'gann said, grabbing a hold of Superboy's hand.

"Well the party's this way." Beast Boy said, turning to leave.

"I don't need a party. Just sign me up." Connor replied.

Nightwing stepped forward. "We want everyone to meet up, and have the opportunity to think over the decision."

Superboy grunted and followed Beast Boy to the party.

At the pool, things were starting to pick up. The attendees were introducing themselves to one another, and a few of them were asking current Titan's members about the outfit. Artemis had removed her uniform for a modest bikini, and sat on a towel close to the pool side. Superboy and M'gann sat at a table to themselves, but were soon joined by Aqualad who stepped gracefully from the pool to come join them. Superboy mentioned something about being locked away in the Justice League's space station, and Dick new Aqualad and Miss Martian were part of the Justice League. It made sense to conclude that the three of them knew each other.

Kid Flash, who'd also changed into trunks, was dashing about the pool at light speed, shoving party-goers in. Each time he did, he'd stop for a split second to yell "Dunked!" before dashing off to find another victim. Every few minutes someone would be picked up in a whirlwind and deposited unceremoniously into the pool. Through sheer speed he managed to dunk Pantha, Wildabeast, and Miss Martian, but his attempt at Superboy ended disastrously when Kid Flash hit his chest like a brick wall, and hit the ground a few feet away. Superboy looked bewildered, and Miss Martian laughed heartily.

KF's shenanigans ended for good when he attempted to dunk Raven, who sat near the poolside with Jinx, talking quietly. Dick just saw the flash as Wally moved toward her, but before he could reach her a black hole opened, and he fell through it. It deposited him just above the pool where he landed with a loud splash. Everyone laughed as he gasped for air.

"That was more of a...gentle summer breeze Dunk." Raven smiled mischievously.

The party went on for a few hours, but as the sun began to set the music started to wind down, and pool-goers waded from the stairs to find food and drink, and the company of their peers. Nightwing made his way over to Beast Boy, who was munching on a spinach and kale salad with walnuts and barbecue dressing.

"Beast Boy. I think now is a good time for your speech."

Beast Boy looked up, fork full of lettuce halfway to his mouth. "Uh...speech?"

Nightwing frowned. "As the leader, you should give a speech on why those who have joined us today should consider becoming a part of the team."

"Oh. Okay..." Beast Boy took his bite and chewed thoughtfully. "Well by my right as team leader, I hereby elect you as the team speech giver, or whatever."

Dick frowned heavily, looking around at all of the attendees. He'd assumed Beast Boy would pull something like this, and had prepared an idea of what to do in that event. He signaled to Cyborg to shut off the music, and moved between the tables, so that he stood in the center.

"If I can have everyone's attention please." He spoke loudly. Luckily he gained everyone's attention easily, and even Kid Flash stopped flirting with Artemis to turn in his seat and face Nightwing.

"For both current, returning, and hopeful members of the Titan's -thank you for coming today. We were excited to host this party, and we've all had a good time, but let's not forget the reason for all of this."

He turned to the table hosting Pantha, Wildabeast, and Hotspot. " For current members, thank you for coming and speaking with everyone today. Feel free to stay as long as you'd like and continue enjoying the celebration."

Then he turned to the table where current members of the Justice League were sitting. "To those of you who are in the League...If you hope to join the Titan's today, I'd like you to know that it will not revoke your membership with the Justice League, and you're free to leave at any time, should you choose to join us. The Titan's work as a team, and a family, and we will not treat any hopeful member any differently due to their past, or current affiliations or deeds."

He looked to Mammoth as he finished, who stared back defiantly.

"Now, I'd like to remind you of why we're really here. Why the Titan's exist, the original intention behind the Justice League, and why we all do what we do. I can't speak for everyone here, but I can say that I've never done this because I like to be called a Hero, or because I get to be in the news."

Dick pointed to his ribs. " I don't do it because I like the broken bones, or the bruises. It's not because I like spending long nights on the streets searching for thugs and criminals. This isn't a hobby for me. This isn't something I do on the weekends for fun, or because I need some extra money."

He took the time to look into the faces of each person. He had all of their rapt attention. "I risk my life every single day, knowing that it could be any moment that someone gets me. Any stray bullet, or knife I don't quite see coming...I do it because I save lives. I stop criminals. I bring justice to the world. I don't ask for praise, or glory, or money. I try to make a difference because someone has to."

"Right now, I can protect Jump City. I can do my best for Gotham City. Right now we have three teams in three places in North America. We're not asking anyone to sign any contracts. We're not asking you to go out into space and fight a battle a galaxy away to protect an alien race you've never heard of." Nightwing looked right to Kaldur, who narrowed his eyes.

"I'm asking you to join us, in protecting the people of Earth. In defending them from threats that they cant defend themselves from. Many of you know that it isn't easy to do, and it isn't rewarding. But it's an opportunity to use your unique skills and abilities for the benefit of our world, and it's the right thing to do."

Beast Boy jumped up excitedly. "If you wanna sign up see Cyborg!" he shouted through a mouthful of kale.

"I wanna sign up." Dick's eyes narrowed as he processed the last voice he wanted to hear.

"No." He said through gritted teeth.

"Hey but you said!" The owner of the voice popped out from behind one of the tables, and walked casually over to Beast Boy.

As he passed by Nightwing he whispered "Hey Dick."

"Go home Tim!" Dick whispered back, but the young boy in a Robin costume pretended not to hear.

"Hey! It's a little Robin!" Beast Boy cried.

"Aw, it's so cute." Jinx crooned.

Tim Drake kept walking, smiling the entire time, until he reached Beast Boy.

"So where do I sign?" He asked proudly. Beast Boy glanced around for a second, before grabbing a napkin from the table, and a marker from the DJ booth.

"Right here little dude!" He handed Tim the marker, and the boy signed, looking defiantly at Nightwing the whole time. After he signed, some other party-goers came up to sign the napkin. Tim made his way to where Dick was standing, arms crossed.

"What are you doing here?!" Dick seethed.

"Enjoying a party." Tim said casually.

"When did you get here?" Dick asked, trying to recall seeing him even once.

"I've been here the whole time." He replied. "Hiding from you, so you couldn't send me home."

"You can't join the Titan's!" He tried to keep his voice to a whisper, and grabbed Tim's shoulder to pull him away from the party, on the other side of the pool.

"Sure I can." The boy replied. "I'm thirteen." He smiled, and pulled up his utility belt comically.

"...Why do you want to join the Titan's?" Dick asked finally.

"Well do you want the truth, or what Bruce told me to tell you?" He asked.

Dick stared at him, brow arched behind his sunglasses.

"Okay, I'll tell you both." Tim replied, getting the message. "Bruce want's me to tell you some story about how I want to get out and 'stretch my wings' and learn to play a role on a larger team like you did."

Tim glanced at Superboy, who was standing next to Miss Martian as she signed the napkin.

"He really just wants me to spy on you and make sure everything's going okay here. Also I'm pretty sure he wants me to keep an eye on Superboy, to see if he joins or leaves. They're a little worried about him because he's got the same powers as Clark but they're not sure if he'll be a hero."

Of course. Dick thought. Bruce wouldn't let Dick rejoin the Titan's without some way to keep track of him, and Batman would want to keep tabs on members of the Justice League who chose to join the Titan's. He had to give credit to Tim for figuring out what he doubted Bruce had outright told the young boy. Furthermore, he clearly had information on Batman's meetings with the League, which meant Intel that Dick might be able to niggle out of him.

"Okay. You can stay. On one condition." He said, kneeling to be eye height with Tim.

"You do exactly what I tell you to, and you never question me." He said seriously.

"Okay well one, that was two conditions. Two, you sound exactly like Bruce... and Three..." Tim reached up with a finger and flicked Dick on the nose. "Boop!" He laughed, and ran off before Dick could react.

When he looked back at the table, the line had cleared up, and everyone who signed up was following Beast Boy toward the tower. The other members were slowly starting to clear out.

Dick went into the bathroom in the foyer, to change into the uniform he'd stashed inside. When he returned as Nightwing, he noticed that Artemis and Kid Flash had chosen sign up, but Aqualad was making his way back toward his ship still docked just past the gate.

Beast Boy and Cyborg would be setting up the Danger Room to test those who signed up, so he and Raven -whom to Dicks disappointment had also changed- set about cleaning the patio. They were shoving deflated pool floats into the shed when the barely audible sound of breathing caused Dick to whirl around.

"I suppose I shouldn't have expected an invitation." Deathstroke stood only a few yards away from Nightwing. Dick charged forward, brandishing his bo-staff as he did so. He swung down hard, but Slade blocked with his own staff, before knocking Nightwing's away and catching him on the ribs.

"I'm not your enemy fool. Look closer." He said, stepping away. Nightwing narrowed his eyes, and realization washed over him. Deathstroke's mask was bronze on the right, and black on the left. This mask was the opposite. The armor was smaller...No...He was smaller...More lithe...He was a She.

"Who are you?!" Nightwing roared, as Raven came up beside him, black magic flickering in her hands.

The assailant removed her helmet, revealing a young woman with pitch black hair, and an eye patch over her right eye.

"My name is Ravage." She said, positioning the helmet in the crook of her arm. "If you're wondering why I'm dressed like Slade, then you'll have to promise you're not going to attack me again."

Nightwing nodded, though he kept a tight grip on his bo-staff.

"Twenty years ago, my father and Slade Wilson were a part of the same military experiment. When Slade decided to back out, my father wouldn't let him. Slade killed my father in front of me, and then took my eye, to remind me of the price of weakness."

Her hand ghosted up to her eye patch, and she seemed lost in thought.

"That doesn't explain the choice of clothing." Nightwing said, eyeing her closely.

"This was my father's uniform. I wear it to honor him. I've trained my entire life to destroy Slade Wilson. When I discovered that he was defeated by the Teen Titan's, I was angry that I couldn't be the one to stop him myself, but I was happy that such a monster was gone."

Nightwing continued to watch her suspiciously, waiting for any sign that she might not be telling the truth.

She continued, easing up her tension a bit. "I've heard rumors that he may not be dead. People are whispering about shadows on the rooftops...If he is back...I want...no I deserve to be there to take him down."

Nightwing pulled his bo-staff apart, into two batons, and sheathed them. "If you know who we are then you know our rules. We don't kill, and we don't break the law."

She nodded. "I understand..."

"There's one more thing." Nightwing pulled a bird-a-rang from his utility belt. "If you're going to join us, I can't have you walking around looking like that." He dragged the blade of the bird-a-rang across her chest, gouging a long T into her armor.

"Don't wear the helmet either." He said, turning towards the tower. "Oh, and you'll have to pass initiation with the rest of them." he called over his shoulder.

In the Danger Room Superboy, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Artemis, and Mammoth were equipping the VR goggles as Cyborg sat at the console.

"Okay, so I'm setting up the obstacle course. You don't have to complete it in any kind of style or time limit, but you do have to complete it." He said, typing away at the console.

"We've got one more." Nightwing said, ushering Ravage into the room.

"Cool!" Beast Boy said before looking at her. "Uh why is she wearing Slade's armor?" He asked curiously.

"They aren't related." Raven said, following her in. The finality of her tone shut Beast Boy up.

Several platforms started to rise from the floor, and slots in the walls opened up. Sharp metal disks started launching from the walls, and the platforms began rotating and moving sporadically throughout the room.

"Whose going first?" Nightwing asked, gesturing toward the first rapidly moving platform. "The goal is to touch each platform without being hit. Those blades aren't real, but they'll feel real if they hit you. Basically you need to touch the top of each platform without getting knocked off, or knocked out from the pain. You hit the floor, you can either start over or quit."

"That's pretty brutal." Artemis said, crossing her arms. "What if we can't do it?"

"Then you can't join." He replied firmly. "I said the Titan's were open to everyone, but this is a team of heroes, and we need those who are capable of protecting the people. If you can't do that you should have been a cop."

Artemis didn't back down from the challenge. "I didn't say I couldn't do it." She said, pulling her bow from her back. She notched an arrow, and fired it into the far wall. Amazingly, her shot avoided both the rising and falling pillars, and the the spinning blades. A small wire shot from the shaft of the arrow, and embedded itself in the wall via hook, just above them. The wire was high enough to avoid the spinning blades, but Artemis didn't wait, she'd already drawn another arrow and fired it right at the wire.

Just before hitting it, the arrow split into a claw like mechanism, and pulled her up to the wire. She walked across it lithely like a tight-rope, before dropping down onto the first pillar, timing her jump to avoid a spinning saw-blade.

Next she fired several arrows rapidly, each one hitting a pillar just below the top. She leaped from the platform and landed on the shaft of her arrow, which held her weight easily. From there she climbed onto the platform, ducking to avoid another blade. She touched down on each pillar easily, and the console let out a loud blaring horn to let everyone know she'd succeeded.

"Piece of cake." She said coolly as the platform she was on lowered to the ground.

Mammoth charged in next. He leaped high into the air, and came crashing down on the first pillar. He jumped again towards the second, but one of the huge metal blades smacked into him. He let out a muffled "oomph" before hitting the ground. Dick knew that while the blade was a hologram, he'd take the hit as if it had been real.

Despite the pain he must have felt, Mammoth rose and tried again. Again another blade hit him, and again he rose. After several more failed attempts, the siren buzzed to let everyone know that Mammoth had finally succeeded. It hadn't been as easy for him as it had been for Artemis, but after crippling pain that would have ended a regular being, Mammoth had passed the test.

Kid Flash went next, though the buzzer sounded only a few short seconds after he'd taken off. Miss Martian followed suit, and her time was surprisingly fast, as she shifted into different animals to reach each platform safely. Nightwing recognized most of the forms she'd chosen, but a few had been alien to him.

Superboy jumped onto the first platform as soon as M'gann stepped off of hers. Nightwing watched as the cloned kryptonian jumped from one platform to the next. It soon became apparent to him that Superboy could not fly, or he'd have finished the course much sooner. He had only one more jump to go, but one of the metal disks soared towards his head. Superman would have sped out of the way, frozen it in place, or fried it with heat vision. Superboy turned, let out a terrifying roar, and punched the disk hard. A real disk might have cleaved a normal human being in half, but this crumpled from the might of Superboy, and then shattered into shards of light. Superboy turned and made the last jump easily.

"Great job Connor!" M'gann called to him, running to give him a hug as he stepped down.

Tim tackled the obstacle course much like Dick would have, by lodging bird-a-rangs into several of the blade firing mechanisms, and then grappling to each platform. He stepped down, whooping in triumph before looking over to Dick, who stood with his arms crossed.

"You know I do it on level five in the Batcave." He said. "You could have cranked it up a little bit." Superboy looked bewildered, and Mammoth grunted and turned away from the group.

"You're up." Nightwing said, turning to Ravage. He noticed that Raven, who'd been behind her, had slipped from the room sometime during the trial. Ignoring it for now, he turned to watch Ravage bound easily up the first platform. Besides Kid Flash, she had the fastest time, jumping, spinning, and easily avoiding the spinning blades. She made the last jump by using her staff to vault over a spinning blade, and then twisted her body mid flight to land on the platform. She smiled triumphantly as she stepped down and moved back to the group.

"Great job everyone. You've passed the first stage. Cyborg is going to set you all up for combat testing in an hour, so take a break. In the meantime, Beast Boy can show you around the tower. You'll be staying her tonight, and then we'll be assigning each of you a team number, and a tower of your own, somewhere in the world."

Artemis interjected. "You're not sending us off to like, Russia or anything are you?"

Nightwing shook his head. "We're still small, so we'll keep it in North America until our numbers grow."

He dismissed himself from the group, and went to search for Raven. He checked the library, and the kitchen, before checking her bedroom. He knocked lightly at the door, and it creaked open.

"Raven? Are you in here?" He asked, moving into her room. The lamp at her bedside was on, and a small note of paper laid on top of her bed.

 _The Pool_ the note said. He took the elevator down to the foyer and out to the patio. The pool was lighted, and floating on her back, was Raven. Dick felt a shudder through his spine as he saw her in a string bikini. His mind couldn't comprehend the pattern, and the color's were muted in the dark.

"Raven?" He asked, just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. She sat up, treading water.

"You didn't swim at the party." She said, looking up at him. He found himself pulled towards her, and he stepped into the water fully clothed.

"You didn't take off your towel." He said. Her face flushed and she looked away, covering her chest with her arms.

"You shouldn't do that." He said, grabbing her soft hands in his, and moving them to his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her closer to him.

"You're so beautiful Raven." He whispered. She pulled his mask off, and tossed it into the pool. Dick watched it float away, pulled to the stairs by the current.

"I didn't want anyone to..." She started, but Dick silenced her with a kiss.

"I won't let them." He said, moving a strand of wet hair from her face. She smiled and kissed him again.

"I haven't been able to see you all day." She said, pulling away from him, and moving closer to the stairs where his mask had become wrapped around the metal handrail. "You've been 'Nightwing' all day. Even when you were at the party."

He came to join her, sitting on the third step so that his upper body was completely out of the water. "I am what I have to be..." He said absently, quoting something Bruce had once told him.

"How do you do it?" She asked, coming to sit next to him. She tossed his mask out of the pool, this time near one of the tables that had been left unfolded. "How do you do it without losing yourself?"

Dick sighed, and turned to face her. "I just...become that person, you know? What would he say, how would he react..." He gave another frustrated sigh. "I can't describe it very well. I guess, when I need to be that person, I am."

Raven reached up and stroked his face, following the curve of his chin with her thumb. "But which one are you, and which one do you become?"

"Sometimes I don't know Rae. I've been doing it for so long." He grabbed her hand, and squeezed it tightly.

"Would you ever stop?" She asked. "Would you give up being a hero?"

Dick thought about it for a moment. "Yes. I mean, Bruce always said he'd stop 'When the job was done'. But it won't ever be done. Crime won't go away. There will always be bad people. One day I'll be able to open that company, and maybe make a big difference. Right now though, I try to help the world in small ways. One bad guy at a time."

"So what would it take, to get Nightwing off of the streets, and out of his costume?" She asked.

"I don't know." He answered, grinning mischievously. "A pretty girl...maybe some... _coercion_." He lifted her up and onto his lap. To his surprise, she didn't shy away or blush. Instead she wrapped her legs around his waist, and threw her arms over his shoulders. His lips found hers, and He was enraptured by how soft they were. The scent of vanilla flooded his mind, and for a moment Dick was lost to the rest of the world.

This time was different though. Instead of the gentle embrace, the sweet, tender, innocent kiss, he felt a passionate fire rising inside him. Raven must have felt it too, as she grabbed a hold of his hair, running her hands through it, and pressing her body firmly against his. He could feel a solid lump forming in his tights, and knew Raven could feel it too. Instead of shying away, she wrapped her legs tighter around him, pulling herself closer.

He stood with her still embracing him tightly, moving over to the leftover table. There he sat her down against the table's edge, ravishing her mouth with his own the entire time. His mind was a haze, his thoughts were haywire, and his entire body was being led by pure instinct.

His mouth moved almost of it's own volition down to her neck, and then her collar bone. Raven gasped, but made no move to stop him. Somewhere in the recess of his brain, a mental note was made about the discovery of such a sensitive spot. At current though, his mouth continued to move down, kissing and biting lightly at her chest.

His hands moved to deftly remove the top of her bikini, and before he knew it, his tongue was rolling over one hard pink nipple, while his fingers pinched lightly at the other. Raven moaned deeply, but Dick was already moving again. His mouth kissed at the soft flesh beneath her breasts, and moved down, sucking and biting at her stomach.

He stopped just short of her bikini bottom. His eyes followed the trail created by his mouth, back up to her face. With a look, he asked for silent permission, and in response, the knot holding her bottom together was undone by magic.

Fire roared inside him again, and blood pounded in his ears. His mouth continued to move, first softly, gently over her mound. His hands lifted her thighs up so that her feet rested on the table, spreading them open ever so slightly. His tongue found her labia, and his mouth was filled with her sweet, yet salty taste. Raven moaned loudly, and Dick flicked his tongue, rolling it about. His teeth found her clitoris, and he bit down, ever so gently, eliciting another gasp. Her hands were buried in his hair, twisting and pulling it, but never pulling him away.

"Nightwing?!" A call from around the corner snapped Dick from his haze. Raven was gone before he could blink; a black hole swallowing her, and the table together. His mind still in a fog, he leaned down to grab the mask that sat by his feet, and carefully set it back on his face.

"Wow, what happened to the pool?" Timothy asked, as he rounded the corner. Dick's mind was beginning to clear, and he looked over to see the pool simultaneously frozen solid, and on fire.

"Why are you soaking wet?" The young Robin came to stand beside him, looking him up and down. Thankfully in the full dark, the boy would not be able to see the flush of Dick's face, or the raging beast trying to calm itself beneath his tights.

"What do you want Tim?" He asked, trying his best to sound more annoyed than flushed.

"Was this a bad time?" The boy asked innocently.

"Something like that..." Dick replied, looking straight up at the tower, to Raven's window where the light flicked on.

"I was wondering if you wanted to patrol with me. I've never been to Jump City before, and I've been doing patrols with Batman, so I have a ton of energy.

Dick sighed. If he said no and made his way to Raven's room, he'd look suspicious. Worse, Tim was too curious for his own good, and would easily ferret him out again, which would give him more information than Dick wanted Bruce's spy to have.

"Sure, kid. Let's take my bike. How did you get here today, anyway?" He asked. Tim smiled, and started for the garage. "Well what had happened was...I was at the Justice League tower with Batman, and I wandered off. I found Superboy and Miss Martian trying to sneak away, and as a stipulation of not busting them, I got to come to the party. Then I just waited for you and Beast Boy to turn your backs, and snuck around. Pretty clever eh?"

"So Bruce doesn't even know you're here?" Dick asked as he opened the garage door.

"Oh he knows. The Javelins have trackers on them. He contacted me when I got to the party and said I could stay as long as I report back to him." Tim grabbed the black helmet Raven had worn on their last outing.

"Perfect." Dick replied dryly, turning the bike on, and grabbing his own helmet. He motioned to flip the visor down, but his fingers moved absently to his mouth, where he could still just make out the taste of Raven.


	10. Chapter 10

Birds of a Feather Chapter 10

Author's note: Thank you so much everyone for your patience and understanding. Hopefully you really enjoy this chapter considering how long I made you all wait. Since I put up the update, I'll keep this note short. I hope you guys enjoy.

* * *

Nightwing crouched at the edge of an abandoned building that stood in downtown Jump City. A parking garage stood opposite, and just then several masked men were moving guns and duffel bags from a police truck into an unmarked van.

"Are the cops corrupt?" Robin broke the silence as he adjusted the sights on his binoculars.

"No. That truck must have been stolen." Nightwing responded, returning his own binoculars to his utility belt and drawing his grapnel gun. Beside him Robin mirrored his movements. They fired their grapnels in unison, and leaped from the roof. Nightwing planted his boot firmly into the chest of the nearest goon, and rolled into a crouch. Nearby, Robin was also rolling to his feet, bird-a-rangs already in hand.

The masked men were slow to react, but a few managed to grab guns from the van and two of them drew knives.

"You'd think these guys would be used to things like this happening by now. I mean you can see the giant T from here." Robin quipped, letting both bird-a-rangs fly. They slashed into the hands of one of the gunmen, who cursed and dropped the weapon. Nightwing leaped forward. One of the gangsters brandished a long serrated knife, and swung wildly. Dick grabbed his wrist and twisted savagely, breaking it cleanly. He jammed his elbow down against the man's chest just in time to deflect a second assailant's knife. The parking lot rang out with the sound of gunfire, and the two vigilantes took cover behind a stone pillar.

"Three O'Clock, sounds like a revolver." Robin glanced around the corner quickly, and turned back just as a bullet ricocheted off of the pillar they were hiding behind.

"Get ready, popping smoke." Nightwing drew two grey pellets from his belt and tossed them out. Smoke roiled from the orbs as they bounced along the floor, and Dick activated his detective vision. The gunman started to fire wildly in random directions, but Robin tossed a bola which wrapped itself around the man's ankles. He fell forward, dropping the gun as he did so. A few punches and kicks later, the thugs were bound together and handcuffed.

"Hey come take a look at this." Robin was poking around in the back of the van while Dick secured the men to one of the pillars.

He moved over to the van where the young boy was fiddling with the lock of a huge metallic brief case. He popped it open and pulled it forward so that it was fully visible in the light of the parking garage.

"It's a high powered sniper rifle." Tim said, moving his hand over the disconnected parts of the rifle.

"Not just any rifle." Dick said, lifting the stock to reveal a small indentation. "It's Slades."The mark was clearly visible in the light.

"You said he's back in Jump City. Shouldn't he be dead?" Tim asked, moving to the back of the police truck.

"We thought so. But he was seen in China a few years ago, and we know he accepted a job in Malaysia before that. Last year Green Arrow recorded a run in with Deathstroke…or at least someone impersonating him."

Tim called out from the police truck "How do you know it wasn't that Ravage girl you just accepted onto the team?"

Dick placed the rifle back into its case, and moved to join Tim. "It's certainly a possibility. There's nothing on record about her that I could find. She seems to have just appeared out of nowhere."

"Then why let her on the team?" the boy asked, looking to his older friend.

"You know what they say about keeping your enemies close. If she's behind all of this then keeping her in the tower will keep her off of the streets, and hopefully put a stop to any scheming. In any case I can't be certain that Slade isn't actually alive and back in Jump City." He moved to the front of the truck where a dead police officer was slumped in the passenger seat. Nightwing unbuttoned a small compartment on his wrist, revealing a small computer interface built into the fabric.

"This cadaver is pretty gruesome. Whoever did this certainly didn't mind driving around with a body that died hours ago. Somehow I don't think we've caught the mastermind behind this, Robin." Tim came over to inspect the body, and made notes on his own wrist computer.

"Any idea who the driver was?" He asked.

"There aren't any clues that wouldn't require a forensics lab, and JCPD wouldn't be too happy if I just borrowed their fallen comrade."

"Well…" Tim tapped on his display, and Dicks own computer screen flashed. "I found some info on the van, and I think we could use it to track our cop killer." He said, flashing a wide smile.

"Not tonight Tim." Dick responded, moving to the open ledge of the parking garage. "I want to get back to the tower. I have some…unfinished business there."

"Unfinished business? I thought the rest of your team could handle the rest of the testing!" Tim looked incredulous.

"I'm not worried about that, there are just some things I want to take care of before the nights over."

Robin stepped in front of Nightwing before he could draw his grapnel gun.

"There's a murderer on the loose, trading weapons and coke to thugs in the city! A murderer who was toting a weapon that belonged to the guy trying to hunt you down and kill you!"

"The police are on their way to the scene. They'll take over from here. Our killer knows we're on their scent, which means they'll lay low for the rest of the night. Even so, there's very little to go off of, and a slim chance we'll catch them tonight. I'll wait for the police reports tomorrow and then hack into their forensics files and get what I need from there."

He moved past the young boy, and drew his grapnel. Tim stood there, refusing to budge.

"Batman would go after him." The boy stated plainly.

Dick swiveled around instantly. "I am not Batman!" his shout echoed through the parking garage. "If you want to track this lead down then do it. Then you can go home and tell Bruce that I don't want his lackey following me around!"

Tears started to well up behind Timothy's mask. It occurred to Dick that the boy was still very young, and he instantly regretted his outburst.

"Tim…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"I'm not anyone's lackey." The boy responded. He hastily drew his own grapnel gun, and fired it at the adjacent building, whipping out of sight before Dick could respond.

Sighing to himself, Nightwing drew his own grapnel and launched it at the same building. By the time he reached the roof Robin was gone.

The drive back to the tower was long and mostly quiet. He briefly passed by a swarm of police cruisers moving in the direction of the parking garage, but otherwise there wasn't a single other car moving down the street in Jump City. When he arrived at the tower his eyes snapped to Ravens window, only to see that it was dark. He cursed himself silently, and pulled into the garage.

"Hey." Nightwing leaped off of the bike, drawing his batons.

"Calm down bird boy. I'm supposed to be your team mate, remember?" Ravage stepped from behind the tarp covered T-Car.

Nightwing didn't sheath his weapons. "I'm still not sure about that." He muttered through gritted teeth.

"Well I passed all of the robot's tests." She shrugged.

"Passing those tests doesn't change the fact that you're wearing Slade Wilson's armor. And the fact that you were skulking in the garage isn't helping your case." He responded.

"Okay. First of all, it's my father's armor. We went over that. You even gouged a nice deep scratch in it. Secondly, I wasn't skulking. I was waiting for you and your little brother."

Nightwing sheathed his batons, but kept his guard up. "He's not my brother. In fact it's none of your business. I don't know anything about you, so what makes you think I'm going to tell you anything about me? It could be that your father was Deathstroke's partner, or you could be some apprentice of his, looking for revenge."

Ravage scoffed. "Truth be told, I don't care what your weird relationship with the little kid is. Besides, if I remember reading the reports correctly, Slade died trying to _save_ you, so why would I seek revenge if I were his apprentice? And why would I go to someone who declared themselves his enemy when he came back?"

Nightwing considered her words, easing up his tension only slightly.

"Look, if the armor is bothering you THAT much….I'll just take it off." Before he could stop her, Ravage unclipped her chest piece, letting it clatter to the floor. Underneath she wore a skin tight black turtle neck. Her body was trim and athletic, and she was smaller than she'd first appeared, less imposing without her steel and chainmail chest piece. She was attractive, but the more he looked at her, the more he thought of Raven asleep in the tower above him.

She flipped her ebony hair, and adjusted her shirt. "See? Normal person. I mean….a normal crime fighting vigilante bent on revenge for the death of her father….Well I wanted to talk to you about something…but I guess it can wait."

She moved to the door, but Nightwing grabbed her elbow to stop her. "I'm not saying I trust you…." He squinted. She looked familiar…as if he'd known her a long time ago. _Take away the eye patch….different hair maybe…._

"I'm not asking you to." She said bluntly, snapping Nightwing out of his reverie. "I'm telling you that the next time you go out on patrol, I'm going with you. I will find Slade Wilson, and I will kill him." She said seriously

"You need to understand one thing. Heroes do not kill. At the end of the day, I don't care who or what you are. When we find Slade, he will face justice, like every villain we've faced before him. If you want to stay on this team, you will accept that rule, or you will be locked away just like the rest."

She wrenched her arm away from him, and then placed her palm against his chest. "Whatever you say, bird boy." She winked slyly with her one eye, and reached for the elevator door.

Frowning, Nightwing parked his bike and double checked the garage for any tampering or foul play. Everything checked out, and the elevator was coming back down.

The elevator door opened onto the living room, where Nightwing found Beast Boy waiting on the couch.

"How was your patrol?" He asked absently, flicking through late night tv shows. The volume was muted.

"It went okay." He replied, vaulting over the couch to sit next to his team mate.

"That's good. We finished testing the new recruits." Beast Boy responded.

"Any plans on what to do with them?" He asked.

"Hm…"Beast Boy answered absently.

Dick let out a long sigh. "Look, Beast Boy….if this is about me and Raven…"

"I don't want to talk about that dude." Beast Boy cut him off. "I just don't. If you guys are gonna do that…fine. But you'd better take care of her bro. You'd better take damned good care of her, because if you don't….I will come down on you. I will come down on you like lightning and no amount of grappling hooks, or bird-a-rangs will save you from my wrath." Beast Boy looked to him seriously.

"Now that we've reached an understanding…" He continued. "I have no freaking clue what to do with any of the new recruits. I have no idea what I'm doing at all. I'm not a leader." He hung his head in defeat.

"Come on now, B. That's not true. You're killing it in mission briefings. You have a real knack strategy and mission planning." Dick reached over to rub his teammates shoulder.

"Yeah, Maybe." Beast Boy said after a while. "But this team building stuff…it's over my head Your speech at the pool party just reminded me of how much better you are at this."

"It just takes some practice." Nightwing responded. "Plus my mentor was really good at taking charge. Something he still feels the need to remind me of."

Beast Boy laughed. "Well the fact remains…" He mulled over his thoughts for a moment before continuing. "I want you to take over as team leader again. I know you might not be looking for that commitment, but if you're gonna be smooching Rae Rae all over my couch, I want you to make sure she's surrounded by the best super hero team possible."

Nightwing thought about it for a moment. This was as close to acceptance as he was likely to get from Beast Boy. "Fine." He finally responded. "Under one condition…." Beast Boy looked up to him surprised.

"I want you to be my strategic advisor on missions." Dick slid his mask off of his face. "And more importantly, I need you to keep an eye on some of our new members."

Beast Boy nodded. "I'm guessing you're talking specifically about the one who could use an extra."

Nightwing didn't respond immediately, but Beast Boy understood his silence.

"I'll have Cy rig her room. I'm assuming she'll be staying with us in Jump City. That just leaves the rest of them." Beast Boy grabbed a stack of folders from the coffee table, and passed them to Nightwing.

Dick flipped through the folders, each one with details on the new recruits. "Well judging by Cyborgs notes, I think we should set up a team with Artemis and Kid Flash. I don't think we could separate Miss Martian and Superboy if we tried." He kept flipping through each folder, stopping briefly to look at Ravage's file. She'd scored near perfect on every single test.

"Let's set them up at the tower in Star City." He said finally.

"Why so far?" Beast Boy asked.

"It's kind of personal, but I would like to see Superboy away from Gotham." Beast Boy gave him a strange look, but he continued. "Besides, Artemis told us she'd partnered with Green Arrow, and he's based out of Star City. She'll have connections there and the city will be familiar to her."

Beast Boy nodded in acceptance. "You know Cy wants to see Jinx moved here." Beast Boy said after a while.

"I know." Nightwing responded, and for once he could understand why. "But we're already overloaded here, especially with Ravage and Robin."

It felt strange to him to use Tim's code name; almost like referring to himself in the third person.

"Yeah, but you know he's going to see them added to our roster and wonder why it isn't jinx." The green changeling let out a loud yawn, and Nightwing mimicked him.

"I know. But he'll understand. Besides, Robin won't be staying long."

Beast Boy grunted. "Must run in the family…" Beast Boy shut the tv off and stood. "Well I'm going to bed. We can iron out details in the morning."

Dick watched him leave, before making his way to his own bedroom. It had been a long night, but his mind was still racing with questions. He disrobed and sat down at his computer desk. The computer file on Ravage was still open. He opened the only photo of her he had, and started playing about with the color and saturation. No matter how much he adjusted the hair color to account for hair dying, he couldn't place, nor shake his uneasy sense of déjà vu.

Dick found himself checking for Tim's GPS tracker, which pegged him within the tower. He let out a sigh of relief, and then chuckled to himself. As hard as he tried to convince Tim, and himself that he was nothing like their mentor, he couldn't help but draw the parallels between himself and Bruce. Here he sat, keeping tabs on his adopted brother, and relentlessly working to uncover as much information as possible on a girl he had no reason not to trust.

Rubbing his eyes, he climbed into bed. Dick Grayson's last thought before drifting off to sleep was not the mysterious Ravage, or the young Tim Drake. Instead, his mind drifted only to Raven, before he fell soundly to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing

* * *

Raven's extended consciousness felt the sun rise before her closed eyes registered it. She could feel the unfamiliar auras of the new members beginning to stir into wakefulness. Then the more familiar metallic flare of Cyborg -half aura, half charged air- and finally, the erratic buzzing she'd come to associate with Dick Grayson. Her heart fluttered and nearly broke her concentration as she felt him come close to her door, but when he kept moving past it, her meditation broke completely, along with her levitation.

She landed abruptly on the bed with a soft thud, let out a frustrated sigh, and leaned back against the head board. Across from her bed was a large vanity mirror, and Raven took a brief moment to glimpse at her reflection. Sometime during her rush to calm herself in the night, she'd changed out of her bathing suit, which was now a pile of ash on the floor. Instead, she wore her typical uniform, with one of Dick's old T-shirts flung over it. Her eyes were red and dry, and there were deep shadows underneath them.

A knock at the door startled her, and she flung it open with magic a little too hard. Dick stood at the door, wearing the unitard he'd worn to exercise. His mask was hanging loosely in one hand, and in his other, he held a small white mug.

"Can I come in?" He asked, passing the threshold before she could answer. "I had to do some laundry, but I brought you a cup of tea." He said, coming to sit at the edge of her bed. She took the mug and blew on the steam billowing from the green tea.

"Thanks." She said, before taking a sip. The drink was piping hot, but rejuvenating after a long night.

"You didn't sleep last night." He said calmly. He shuffled closer and wrapped his arm around her waist. Raven fought off a shudder of excitement when he touched her, and struggled to keep her magic in check.

"How could I after...what happened." She replied.

"About that..." He ran a hand through his spiky black hair. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me, I was just...and the bikini was...and..."

She laughed, and it felt good to laugh. "You shouldn't ever need to apologize for that. I...wanted it to happen. And it was great...better than amazing." In truth, the actual events were hazy, but the feeling was still clear in her mind. Despite hours of deep meditation, her heart still fluttered erratically even thinking about it.

"Well, we ruined the pool." He responded sheepishly but wrapped his arm tighter around her.

"Yeah..." She smiled shyly. "I'm sure Cy will understand."

"Actually, We're sending him to Star City, so I'll have to fix it myself." Raven wasn't about to confess that she'd heard his conversation with Beast Boy during her meditation, she decided to play dumb instead.

"Oh, you've gotten the teams worked out?" She asked, feigning surprise.

"Yeah, Gar and I figured it out when I got back last night," Dick responded, pulling his arm from around her. Her body instinctually drew closer to him. He held his mask in both hands, staring down at the strip of rubber.

"How was your patrol?" She asked, sensing his tension as his fingers moved over the inner edges of the eye holes.

"I had a fight with Tim." He said quietly.

"He did seem pretty angry when he came back last night. I was worried when you weren't with him." She responded. He gave her a questioning look, and she shrugged.

"I wanted to get back to you." He said, looking into her eyes. Her breath caught and she was lost in his piercing blue eyes. "We found something that could have produced a lead towards finding Slade, but I didn't want to follow it." He looked back down to the mask, and Raven's brain started working again.

"So Tim got angry because you wanted to be a person, instead of a hero..." She said finally.

"I know it was wrong. I should have focused on the mission. But I just didn't care. It wasn't as important as you are."

Raven's heart started to flutter erratically, and she fought to keep herself under control, lest a window shatter.

"I yelled at him." Dick's voice cracked, and he frowned deeply. "I forget sometimes, how young he is. He's so talented, and Bruce has trained him effectively...he trained all of us effectively, but Tim started the youngest."

"It sounds like he's a good mentor," Raven responded, trying to find a way to erase his frown. Instead, it seemed to have the opposite effect.

"He's good at teaching us how to fight, sure. He's great at teaching us how to deal with criminals, and track down leads, and get results." Dick's sorrow seemed to quickly become angry, and he stared down at the mask in disgust. "But he's also a master at manipulation, and brain washing. He teaches us that what we're doing is just and that it's the only way to stop crime. He paints us out to be heroes, when really we're just a couple of kids living in his shadow, working to carry on his legacy if something happens to him, and his crusade comes to an end."

Raven tried furiously to help him with his pain. " The people see Batman and Robin as heroes. He just wants to protect the city...protect you." She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged his back. Dick responded by placing his hand over hers and nuzzling his head against hers.

"If that were true, then Barbara wouldn't be in a wheel chair." He whispered.

Raven didn't have a response, so instead, she pulled him in tighter, wrapping her legs around him. To her shock and surprise, his hand found her bare leg, and he rubbed her calf tenderly. Another explosive shudder ran through her body, and this time the vanity mirror let out an audible crack. Dick stopped abruptly, and muttered a quick "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Raven responded, burying her head into his shoulder blades. She filled her lungs with the scent of sandalwood and leather, before exhaling slowly. "It's my fault. I have to work on my...control, around you."

"Is there anything I can do to make it easier?" He asked.

"Well. Just...warn me...before you pull something like you did last night." She responded. Without warning he grabbed her shoulders and rotated her entire body, so that she sat on his lap, facing him. She let out a small squeak when she realized she could feel him pressed firmly between her legs. The vanity mirror exploded into hundreds of glass shards, and all of her dresser drawers came hurtling out, spilling clothes all over the floor.

"You mean something like that?" He whispered devilishly, before pulling her lips into a long and deep kiss.

"Yes! Exactly like that." She breathed.

* * *

Training the new recruits kept Nightwing away from Raven over the following days. They were all accomplished heroes in their own right, but most of them had never fought as part of a team. After pairing them off into groups the active Titans took different roles in the training process. While Nightwing trained them in team based combat, Beast Boy worked with them on strategic mission planning. Cyborg chose a handful to learn about the intricate technology that went into each tower, T-ship, and various gadgets each team would have access to. It was important that each team have a tech expert in case something broke or went wrong. Raven worked with each team on their Rogues Gallery, informing them on the major threats and villains they would be facing in their respective cities. Between the Batcomputer database and the and Justice League computer that Cyborg had hacked into, each team would have a detailed list of the enemies they could expect in their city, as well as major crime organizations, and hot spots.

His role as combat trainer allowed Nightwing to get a better idea for each recruits strengths and weaknesses. He'd been right about Superboy, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, and Artemis. Their abilities rounded each other out very well and they got along naturally. They'd even started calling themselves the Young Justice team since each of them had a mentor who was a part of the Justice League. Mammoth and Jinx worked well together, as had been the case for as long as Nightwing had known them. He'd resolved to send Mammoth undercover alongside Jinx until they could recruit a few more members to round out that team, or until he'd decided whether or not he trusted Ravage enough to send her away from the tower.

Ah, Ravage. She had been a real pain from the start. She didn't work well with any of the others, though she was an excellent combatant on her own. She flew through each combat trial on her own without too much difficulty, but anytime she was put on a team she floundered. More often than not the others would get in her way. She often ended up in a bad position, and worst of all, she refused to help others when they needed it, choosing to wrap up each training session solo.

Nightwing could understand her disposition. Working under Batman had taught him a lot about synergy with another fighter, but that had come through years of mistakes and painful lessons. As the first Robin, both he and Batman had to learn how to work with, and rely on a partner, and he'd always had a sneaking suspicion that he was relying on Batman a lot more than Batman was relying on him.

"Alright. Try again. This time, Ravage, keep an eye out for Superboy, I'm sure he doesn't want another shuriken in the back. And remember, the goal is to NOT hit Mammoth with seven tranquilizer bullets." Nightwing called out to the recruits. Superboy was standing on the far side of the training mat, while Kid Flash pulled throwing stars out of his back. Miss Martian was trying to haul the sleeping Mammoth off of the mat, while Artemis retrieved her arrows. Ravage on the other hand was busy loading more tranquilizer bullets into her hip mounted pistols, while pointedly ignoring Nightwing.

"Ravage I'm serious. The goal of this exercise is to learn to work as a cohesive unit." He called out.

"You can suck my unit..." She replied, just loud enough for his cowl to pick up.

"Very funny. Now please, get into position."

He pressed the button on the training console again, and the hard light warriors popped into place. The recruits broke into a formation they'd been working on all morning. Artemis ran forward, scooped up this time by Superboy who hurled her into the air. She twisted midair, drew a few arrows and started to fire. Meanwhile, Miss Martian had transformed into a massive Chinese dragon and began breathing a torrent of fire towards the enemy. At this point, Ravage should be tossing small gas bombs into the flames to subdue their enemy. Instead, she'd engaged a light soldier on her own, dispatching it in hand to hand. Three more pounced on her and Miss Martian shape shifted into a six armed alien that Nightwing didn't recognize and leaped to her allies aid. Ravage either hadn't seen her coming or didn't care, and tossed her gas bomb into the three enemies, blowing them up, but hitting Miss Martian in the process.

"M'gann!" Superboy shouted. He quickly popped two more soldiers and ran to her side. Artemis hit the ground hard without someone to catch her, and Nightwing decided to end the training protocol.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Superboy shouted at Ravage, who shrugged nonchalantly, walking off of the training mat to grab a bottle of water.

"Sorry Supes, I saw an opportunity and I took it." she replied.

"An opportunity for what? Blowing up your team mate?!" Artemis shouted, rubbing her shoulder.

Nightwing intervened before things went from hostile to dangerous.

"Enough everyone. Let's take a break for today. Superboy, please take Miss Martian to the infirmary and make sure she's okay. Ravage can I speak to you privately please?"

Superboy grumbled and lifted the green Martian. Artemis once again collected her arrows from the mat and followed her out. Ravage took another swig of water, walked past Nightwing, pressing the console button as she went, and stepped back onto the mat.

"I asked for a word in private." He called out, just as the hard light warriors spawned.

"Just me and you and these things." She called back, starting the training protocol. It had been dialed up so that twenty enemies would spawn in waves, a good practice for a large team. Ravage let them come and dispatched them several at a time. She was panting by the end, but she hadn't taken a hit. Nightwing would have been impressed if her attitude weren't so irritating.

"I'm serious Ravage. If you want to stay on this team you need to learn to work with a team. You need to be there for your team mates, and they need to be able to trust you. Instead, you've been blowing them up or shooting them all week." He stepped onto the mat as she dispatched the last enemy.

"I understand what you're trying to do," She said, drinking more water, before walking back to the mat to face him. "but let's be honest. You're not shipping me off to another team. You're going to keep me right here where your cameras can keep an eye on me. I'm not going on any missions because you don't trust me not to betray you."

She put her gloved hands on her hips and stared him down with that one green eye. Since their encounter in the garage, she'd stopped wearing her chain mail and plate armor. Instead, she wore a sleeveless black wool turtleneck, black leggings, and black leather gloves and boots. A pistol was strapped to her belt on each side, as well as a pouch of throwing stars, smoke bombs, incendiary bombs, and a combat knife. On her back was a dull edged katana. Nightwing had forced her to replace her laser sharpened sword for one that wouldn't kill someone. All in all, she was armed to the teeth, especially for someone who could easily beat opponents with her bare fists.

"I told you when you showed up wearing Slade's armor and mask that it would be awhile before the Titans could trust you. Hurting or disregarding your team mates during a practice session doesn't exactly earn mine or anyone's trust." He folded his arms across his chest and returned her glare.

"Yeah, you told me not to honor the memory of my father, or wear something protective when people are trying to kill me. I did what you told me to, and you don't trust me. I'm sorry I'm not exactly team mate material, but when my father died and Slade Wilson took my eye, I had to learn to fend for myself, by myself!"

Nightwing sighed, lowering his hands and walking back a few paces. "I understand your frustration, believe me, I do. But you can't fight every battle on your own. Eventually, you will need to rely on someone else. Take it from someone who has learned that lesson better than anyone else."

She scoffed. "Maybe you can't fight every battle on your own." She replied, clearly taunting him.

Maybe I'll teach her a lesson. He thought. "I know what you're trying to do, and you're going to regret it." He replied.

Ravage grinned maniacally. "You sure bird boy? I think I can clip your wings."

Nightwing ducked into a fighting stance. "Try it."

Ravage laughed and rushed him, aiming a right hook for his jaw. He caught it easily and deflected, going for a low kick to her knee. She twisted away from the kick and spun around for her own. He dropped to one knee to catch it on his bicep and aimed a punch for her gut. His fist connected, knocking the wind out of her and sending her stumbling back a few paces.

"I told you you'd regret it," Nightwing said, straightening. Ravage looked up with a grin on her face, having already caught her breath.

"Oh It's just starting to get fun" She responded, drawing her dull sword.

"Now that's a really bad idea. Ever heard of the League of Shadows?" He drew his batons, fixing them together into a bo-staff.

"My father taught me to use this, and who do you think taught him?" She responded, dropping into a combat stance Nightwing recognized. It was the same stance Bruce had taught him a decade ago. A stance taught by Ras Al Ghul.

She came at him with the sword, swinging in a downward arc. He blocked it with his staff and brought it around just in time to catch the next swing. He blocked the third and the fourth with ease. The fifth was not expected, but also clumsy. She'd tried to alter her attack to catch him off guard. It would have worked if he weren't an experienced fighter. Instead, he parried it with force, opening her guard. Nightwing turned and hit her in the chest with his right shoulder, before bringing the tip of the staff up into her chin. Ravage was hit with enough force to knock her back, and the shock caused her to drop her sword.

Again Nightwing backed away a few paces, allowing the girl to recover.

"Still having fun?" He asked cattily. When Ravage rose the answer was evident.

This was clearly not someone used to being beaten easily. Ravage rushed Nightwing before he could prepare, tackling him and sending him to the ground. He got his hands up to his face just in time to protect himself from her fists. He kicked upwards, sending her sprawling over, but before he could get to his feet she tackled him to the ground again. He blocked another swing at his face before getting in a gut punch that halted her. He was just able to squirm enough to roll over and pin her chest with his knee. He held her hands against the ground, above her head.

"That's enough." He said finally, looking down at her. The rage was gone from her face, replaced by an almost sweet innocence.

"Are you going to kiss me now birdie?" She asked, giggling.

"You're deranged." Nightwing let her arms go and rose up off of her.

"Maybe. I am." She said, rising to her feet. Ravage grabbed her sword and resheathed it. "Next time we fight I won't hold back." She stated matter of factly.

"Recruits, please report to the Library," Raven called out of the intercom. Ravage gave Nightwing a farewell wave, grabbed her water bottle from beside the mat, and started walking towards the exit.

"She's certainly not working any harder towards earning that trust," Nightwing said to himself.

"Yeah, but she didn't kill you," Robin replied.

"What the hell?!" Nightwing turned to see Tim standing next to him. "Where did you come from?" He asked.

The young Robin pointed towards the gymnastic equipment. "Over there." He responded innocently. "Anyway, she could have gotten you with that knife when she pinned you, and that bad maneuver with her sword was intentional."

"You think so?" Nightwing asked. It had seemed like a rookie flub, especially for someone as well trained as Ravage. He'd seen her fighting plenty throughout the week.

"Yeah, I think she was testing you more than you were testing her," Tim responded. "Like Batman used to."

Nightwing could remember wearing a costume similar to Tim's; sparring tirelessly with their mentor in the Batcave. Once in awhile Dick would feel like he was getting the upper hand, like Bruce was wearing out, or perhaps being sloppy. It was always a test, to see if Dick were aware of the cadence of the fight, aware of the slightest misstep, or mistake an opponent might make. A test to make sure he could take advantage of that. If what Tim was saying was true, he'd just revealed a lot more to Ravage than she'd revealed to him.

"Anyway, you said you wanted to see me this morning, after training?" Robin pulled him out of his reverie.

"Sorry, yeah. Listen, I have a special task for you." He moved to sit down at one of the benches lining the sparring mat, and Robin came to sit with him.

"We both know that you don't need any of this training. You've been working as a team since you started doing this, you know the Batcomputer files inside and out, and you know how the tech works. I have a special mission for you." Nightwing had planned this since the night Robin had discovered Slade's rifle. The kid wouldn't be happy until he'd ferreted out whatever clue he could find, and Nightwing meant what he'd said about the training.

"I want you to find whatever clues you can about Deathstroke being in Jump City. I'm trusting you to this because I know you'll find answers, and I know you can handle your own out there. Bruce told me before that you were handling solo missions now, and this is a big one. Also...you can still talk to Barbara without it turning into a lecture." he finished.

"Sweet!" Robin jumped up, pumping his arm. "I won't let you down bro! I'll find Jerkstroke and whoop his butt!"

"I like your enthusiasm, but whatever you find, report back to me. Not Bruce!" Dick grabbed the young boy by his shoulders and spun him around so that they were eye to eye. " And, whatever you do, do not engage! Come back to me immediately if you find anything."

"Awww!" Robin complained. "but you got to fight him and you were barely older than me!"

Dick smiled and tousled the kid's hair. "Yeah, but I was a better fighter than you are too."

"Pfft. As if." He responded, moving towards the mat. "You wanna prove it, or do you only fight girls now?" Tim dropped into a fighting stance.

"Man, what is with people challenging me today?" Nightwing laughed and entered the ring. The match was over quickly. Robin jumped up aiming a double kick at Nightwing's chest. He caught the boy's leg, spun him around and put him in a headlock.

"Hey let me go cheater!" Robin shouted, struggling to get free. Instead, Nightwing rubbed his fist aggressively against the boy's head.

"Haha, noogie!" He laughed as Robin tried harder to struggle free. Finally, Nightwing let him go, and Robin fell unceremoniously to the floor.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Tim shouted, with as much malice as his small voice could muster. This made Dick laugh even harder, and soon Tim was chuckling too.

"Come on let's go get something to eat, all this butt kicking has made me hungry," Nightwing said, steering the kid towards the door.

"Yeah, and then maybe you can see Raven!" Tim cooed.

"Wha...what do you know about that?!" Dick asked, embarrassed.

Tim laughed and took off for the door, shouting on his way back "Only that these cameras are really easy to hack, and somebodies been smoochin! Wait till the old man hears about this! Dick has a girlfriend, Dick has a girlfriend!" Tim reached the door and bolted through it cackling along the way.

Great. Dick thought. The one person who can't keep a secret from the old man figures out the one I don't want him to know...

By the time he reached the elevator door Tim had already gone up. When the door chimed open, Nightwing stepped in, and instead of the kitchen, found himself hitting the button for the library. He hadn't been able to spend much time with Raven since the new recruits. Now with the search for Slade being handled, and the recruits being prepared to ship off to their perspective towers, he was ready to catch up on the time they'd lost. As the elevator moved upward he felt weightless. For just a little while the thought of seeing the girl he cared most for had driven weight of the world off of his shoulders.


End file.
